VOID Paradise: Lost and Found VOID
by redblackroses23
Summary: -VOID-Re-do of In The Sun. JJ's gone, the team gets a replacement and Dr.Spencer Reid falls for her. Reid/OC  points for anyone who knows where I got the title! Rating may change-VOID-
1. Chapter 1

Spencer Reid stood at the front desk and waited for the security measures to certify him. In the earlier years of his career here at Quantico, he was always annoyed by the process, but he soon came to accept that it is what it is. To pass the time (and save himself from painfully awkward small talk with the secretary), Spencer turned to watch the bustling lobby. Familiar faces ran to the same places, interns spilled coffee- an unforgivable sin- and people ran into the copy room with one folder and came out with a stack. The only thing out of the ordinary was a young woman, probably late 20s, standing across the hall from an elevator, away from all the others waiting to get on.

She was of average size, about 5'5", probably between 115 and 120 had deep, deep red hair- almost purple that contrasted perfectly with her healthily pale skin, and appeared to have equally deep blue/gray eyes. She looked slightly confused, but hid it well with practice confidence. She was probably new, fore he remembered that fear. Granted, he didn't have confidence to hide behind, but he most definitely had the fear aspect down.  
The elevator came and people filed on and off. A kind person seemed to be holding the door for her, but she smiled shyly, shook her head and gestured her hand in a 'shoo' or in this case, 'go ahead' motion.

Alright... odd.

Spencer was brought out of his thoughts when the secretary behind him cleared her throat. He turned around, embarrassed, and grabbed this ID and badge from her hand.

"Thank you." He said quietly, already feeling the blush burning his cheeks.

Turning back around, badge in his back pocket, Spencer noticed the woman standing in the same spot, the same slightly frightened expression on her face. He took a deep breath and strode over to her.

"Do you need any help?" He asked, his voice squeaking at the word 'help'.

His embarrassment worsened when he heard her giggle like a school girl.

"No." She assured him with a naturally beautiful smile, "I'm fine thanks."

"Alright," He said, letting out a small chuckle himself for whatever reason, "You just seemed a little lost."

"Oh, no, I just kind of have a thing about elevators. Been here for awhile trying to make myself get on." She explained with a nervous laugh.

Spencer smiled warmly at her and was about to say something else when a vibrant computer tech came by.

"Hey Reid, Hotch wants everyone up in the conference room and helloooooooo lovely young woman whom I've never met. I'm Penelope Garcia, FBI Technical Analyst and Supreme Goddess of Knowledge." Penny introduced with a smile, sticking her hand out.

The woman politely shook Penny's hand and introduced herself as Briana Parker, job title still unknown and imaginary diabolical feline- which earned a good laugh from the other woman.

"And this RUDE young man is Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid." Penelope said, elbowing Spencer out of his mind.

"Oh! Ah, yeah, s-sorry. Hi." He stuttered, giving a little wave.

Briana giggled again, waved back and said "Hi."

Spencer smiled slightly as the two women said their goodbyes and Garcia dragged him to the elevator. They stood facing her, well at least he did- Garcia having stricken up a conversation with someone Reid didn't know. He made eye contact with Briana one last time as the doors began to close, and when a sweet, closed-mouth smile graced her glossed lips, Spencer couldn't help but hope he'd see her again.

* * *

The agents sat in anticipation as their unit chief walked solemnly through the door. He looked truly, deeply upset. In fact, the last time he looked like this was when JJ left. What the hell was happening now?

"I'm not sure how to tell you all this, especially with JJ's departure being so recent, but we've been assigned a new Media Liaison."

"What!"Morgan yelled, "Hotch are you serious?"

"Morgan calm down!" Hotch yelled back in a voice that would strike fear into the most hardened criminal. "It's become obvious that we are in need of someone who can focus on just that job's requirements. Either we hire someone else or the team falls apart."

"So we're just gonna replace JJ?" Morgan hollered.

"Oh yay, I get to work with a fourth grader." An annoyed voiced said from the doorway. Everyone turned to be greeted with deep auburn hair, glowing pale skin and gray eyes filled with anger.

Spencer was instantly filled with regret. He felt terrible. He had liked this girl, was actually developing a crush on her, and she was replacing someone he loved. And still- not helping his guilt- he could feel his heart beat begin racing and his hands begin to sweat at the sight of her.

The tension is the room was almost unbearable as Morgan and Briana had a stare off, each holding steady. Spencer took a glance around the room to see who everyone else was reacting.

Garcia seemed as shocked as him- but very happy about just who the replacement was. Rossi looked at the new agent with interest, studying her every move, no matter how small. Prentiss appeared to be rather amused, a smile gracing her face. Spencer knew if anyone would make Briana feel welcomed, it'd be Emily- having been in her spot a few short years ago. And finally, Hotch. Not surprising in the least, Hotch was all business. He was of course going to be professional and seemed rather annoyed with Morgan at the moment.

Finally, the horrible silence was broken.

"Sit down, Agent." A quiet, commanding voice said with feigned patience. Behind what was so clearly a practiced calmness was a patronizing tone mixed with an underlying, unnamed, but undeniable threat.

Morgan complied.

"Now," Agent Parker started, much calmer, "I am your new Media Liaison, Special Agent Briana Parker. I entered this room knowing that you all would very easily hate me-"

"I don't!" Garcia injected, "And I can guarantee that Reid doesn't either!"

Spencer blushed deep red for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning, and it only worsened when he stuttered out, "I-I d-don't h-h-hate you."

He was sure his face matched Briana's hair when she smiled at him.

The moment was broken when Prentiss started giggling behind him, only to earn a not- so- frighting- glare from the young and ungodly embarrassed doctor.

This only caused Briana's smile to widen as she continued.

"However, regardless of your personal feelings towards me- no matter of justified or not- I expect you to treat me with respect. The fact of the matter is, I'm working here now. We are all co-workers, and so long as you treat me a such, I will bestow upon you the same basic human kindness.

"But," She said, purposely walking past Morgan, "this goes both ways. If you bark, I bark. I trust me when I tell you, I bite."

**_A/N: Okay, seriously ya'll, this made me laugh:_**

**_My school- which ranked 52nd out of 650 state high schools- had a Homecoming dance over the weekend. No big deal right? _**

**_Well, kind of a big deal when someone SPIKES THE PUNCH BOWL! I kid you not. By the end of the night, I was in the hospital vomiting, chugging charcoal and getting all of my nutrition from an IV. GOOD TIMES!_**

**_Oh! And some kid got hit by car. He's okay though. He actually got up and just walked into the dance apparently :)_**

**_So! Sorry about not posting during the weekend, but I was a tad bit busy and miserable_**

**_Peace Out_**

**_AND DON'T SPIKE THE FREAKING PUNCH BOWLS! YOU COULD KILL SOMEONE! GAWR!_**

**_:-X_**

**_and if there's some kind of gibberish down below this note, just ignore, I don't know how to get rid of it  
_**

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	2. Chapter 2

The day had gone by rather quickly after Briana Parker had formally introduced herself to the team. After that, Agent Hotchner took her to her office and further explained the duties of her job. And in her office she stayed for the rest of the day. With the morning she had, she really hadn't wanted to push fate. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle it.

If there was one thing Briana hated about herself, it was her unmatched ability to be extremely over-emotional. Any time she got disciplined, she had to hold back tears. Is that not sad? And even then, she couldn't keep them at bay for more than a few months.

This never really posed a problem in her childhood. She was never disciplined at home, hell, if anything she was the one doing the disciplining. And somehow- in between all of the responsibilities she dealt with in home life- she had managed to maintain around a 3.94 GPA throughout in school career, so she rarely ever had trouble in school. But there were those occasions, and eventually they would just build up until she couldn't push them down any further.

And to this day, her automatic response to being yelled at and disappointing people is to cry. This morning at the elevator she kept worrying about what everyone thought of her, like how she even thought she could make it anywhere in the FBI if she couldn't even get on a damned elevator. And then there was Agent Morgan. God, she hated that. Sure, he wasn't yelling at her directly, but it was essentially the same thing. She just hoped that no one saw her lips swell or her eyes start to water before she could gain control of her emotions.

Well, after that little show, Bri knew controlling her emotions in anymore 'high-stress' situations was nothing short of a pipe dream, so she did all she could to avoid any and all of them.

And now she was home. Ah, home. Such a wonderful place. No one there to bother her. No one there to yell at her. And no one there to judge her. Except her mirror. But who cares about that bitch? Oh, right, just about every living person on the face of the planet. With such stupid things so high on the general list of priorities, who the hell are we- as a race- to look for 'intelligent' life. We don't deserve anymore great discoveries until we stop being so self conscious.

"What?" She heard a voice ask. Oh yeah, she wasn't in her apartment. She was at the in-house laundromat, sitting on the dryer that was currently heating and tossing her dark clothes.

She turned around and saw Dr. Spencer Reid, one of her new co-workers, standing in the door, holding a full laundry-basket, giving her an odd look.  
She looked back at him, confused.

"You were talking to yourself, something about intelligent live and self consciousness." He told her as he walked to an empty washer and started loading his clothes.

_Oh_, she thought, _Oops._

"I know," She defended sarcastically, "I just can't believe you interrupted my conversation. Garcia was right, you are rude." She finished with an over-exaggerated scoff, hoping he caught on to the fact that she was just messing with him.

He didn't.

"I'm... sorry?" He asked nervously as he punched in his commands for the machine.

Deciding to throw the guy a bone, and quench the unbelievable thirst she hadn't noticed until just now, Briana pulled out a dollar from her sweatpants pocket, held out to him and said, "Go get me a Cola and we're good."

Much to her surprise, he actually took the dollar out of her hand, walked out of the room -probably to the soda machine down the hall- and back with a bottle of Coca-Cola.

She sat up instantly, smiled and took the soda with an enthusiastic 'Thank you!'.

"So I take you're the new tenant on the third floor?" Spencer asked her after she took a huge chug of the soda.

She smiled again. "So I'm the focus of building gossip, ooh, fun."

To this she was gifted with a chuckle from the young doctor currently leaning against a dryer next to the one she was sitting on.

"I heard one of the teenage girls telling her older brother how much she loved the 'new chick', and, considering that there was only one open apartment and I've never seen you here before, basic reasoning would lead me to believe that you were the 'insanely epic new chick.'" He finished with a smile.

By the time he had finished quoting the teenage girl, Bri was falling back onto the dryer in laughter. "I know her!"

"How'd you meet?" He asked with a slight chuckle.

"Well, uh," She tried to explain, her dying laughter slightly hindering her ability to do so, "The day I moved in, I was going up and down three flights of stairs- cuz you know, I hate elevators- for like, hours. And her parents snapped at me for it, and I just kinda, sorta might have told them off to hell and back."

"Nice." Was all Reid said in response as he shook his head, still chuckling. The sounds of his laughing was over powered be the obnoxiously loud beep of the dryer, apparently letting everyone in the tri-city area know that Briana Parker's laundry was done.

"I know right?" She replied, hoping off of the machine and re-filling her plastic laundry basket. "I'm great at first impressions."

With that, she knocked the dryer door closed with her hip, grabbed her soda bottle and walked out of the room and to stairwell, feeling eyes on her the entire time.

* * *

Why did she have to look so good at 10 o'clock at night? It wasn't fair. She shouldn't be able to have her eyeliner almost completely wiped off, her hair pulled back into a terribly messy bun with random strands falling out here and there, and be in baggy sweatpants and a worn out white, razor-back tank top and still look like a model.

And why did her laughter have to be infectious? And why did her fear of elevators or the way she seemed to unknowingly voice her random thoughts have to be so adorable? And why the hell was she all Spencer could think about as he walked down the fifth floor hallway to his apartment.

None of this was fair. He wasn't suppose to feel this way about the person replacing someone he cared so much about. He didn't want to be like Morgan and act like- as was so delicately stated this morning- 'a fourth grader', but he didn't want to have such affectionate feelings towards her. And why so soon?

Maybe this was just a silly crush. Like with JJ. That's all it is. A crush.

Definitely. Probably. Maybe. It's possible. Sort of...

_**A/N: Been cleaning all night and thought 'Hmmmm, why not update a story?'**_

_**So here you go. I don't know when I'll update Chess in Vegas, but it'll be soon enough.**_

_**And there's a picture of someone who looks very similar to how I imagine Bri on my profile. It's right before the bold face paragraph. **_


	3. Chapter 3

"In the past 4 years, 7 families have been murdered." Agent Parker started to explain. "On the surface –aside from the fact that they were all foster families- they had nothing in common."

"So why is this our problem?" Morgan snipped, still pissy about the whole 'new liaison' situation.

"Because," Briana started to explain again, but not before sending Derek a serious don't- **mess**- with- me look, "A little digging turned up the fact that at one point or another, each of the families cared for one of these two." She clicked on her portable mouse and four pictures came up. They were in couples, obviously file photos from young age to current age. Two of a boy- probably seven in the young picture, 19 in the current one- and two of a girl- fourteen and twenty-six.  
"They're biological siblings. They have three other siblings. One older sister and two older brothers. The sister spent about a year in the system before she turned eighteen, the brothers were never in. They're parents apparently abandoned them one night. Child services decided after a few months that the brothers weren't fit to properly take care of the three, so they took over. None have been in contact sense. The first four families murdered were that of the youngest- Richie Teller. The last three were of his older sister- Maggie Teller. The last murders took place in Orlando and, going by the pattern, the killer is headed to Maine next. The police and family have already been informed."

"Wheels up in thirty." Was all that was said before everyone filed out of the room.

* * *

Spencer stifled a laugh as he and the three other males on the the team stood in the elevator and watched as Emily tried to force Briana on.

"You'll-be-fine!" The raven haired woman yelled through clenched teeth as she pulled the reluctant red-head across the lobby.

"No I won't!" Briana yelled back as she fought against the iron grasp that the other agent had on her wrists.

"Spencer!" He heard Emily call. "How many people die on elevators?"

"Uh... there are about six elevator related deaths a year, but people just plain dying-"

"That's fine, thanks!" She replied before turning her attention back to Bri.

"See? Six!"

"And there are six of us!" Briana countered in legitimate fear.

Spencer felt bad for the woman. She was entirely phobic of elevators. But she had to get over it eventually. Everyone had to face their fears. He did. Granted, it was in a life or death situation, but the point is he is no longer afraid of the dark.

"Damnit, Emily, NO!"

Spencer laughed slightly, along with Rossi. Morgan was still pouting and Hotch was in business mode- though Spencer could almost swear he saw the hints of a smile- as they all waited for the two women to get on the elevator.

Everything got silent, however, when a strange man in full Marine uniform stood directly behind Briana, his eyes creepily wide and focused on her.

Spencer watched as Briana's face- once tight with anger and reluctance- fell completely and took over a look of sheer horror. She slowly turned her head, Emily still holding her wrists, and looked the man dead in the eyes.

A scary smile spread across his face.

"Fuwend." He said in a deep voice.

Quickly, Emily and Bri had switched places, Bri now dragging a very confused Emily to the elevator.

"Fuwend!" The Marine called again as he followed the girls in a very Frankenstein manner.

The second the girls got on the lift, Briana was slamming the 'Door Close' button like her life depended on it.

"Fuw-OW!" The...odd man yelped as he ran into the closed doors.

"Who was that?" Rossi asked as the elevator started moving.

"Tyler Gran," Briana breathed out form her spot in the back corner, "High school friend. Strange but funny."

Everyone- including Morgan- watched with concern as Briana continued to take deep, shaky breaths and slide down to the floor.

"Parker?" Hotch asked as he moved closer to the now hyper-ventilating woman. Everyone unknowingly stalked closer and closer to her.

* * *

She could feel the walls closing in around her. These were no longer her friends, but slabs of metal inching closer and closer. Surrounding her. Suffocating her. She was trapped. Trapped in a metal box hanging stories above the ground. Just dangling. Nothing but a few cables. That's all that held her life right now. A few cables and a metal box with walls trying to crush her.

"Briana?" One of the walls asked.

Oh dear God, when the walls get so close!

"Go away!" She heard herself screech. In a split second she was no longer in a tiny, dark metal box, but a normal elevator, the walls having turned back into her co-workers. All of which were looking at her with confusion and pity in their eyes.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when the elevator jerked slightly and she screamed once again.

"Let me out!" She yelled as she ran to the closed doors. She began pounding on them with her fists in a futile attempt to break them open.

"Let me out! Let me out! Let. Me. OUT!"

* * *

Morgan walked over to the control panel and pressed the open button.

"I'm going to walk her up the stairs." He told Hotch, you nodded curtly.

The doors opened upon arriving at the nest floor and Morgan gently ushered the shaking and crying woman out of the elevator. He nodded to his co-works and, when the doors closed again, he sat himself and Parker on the floor.

For what felt like an eternity, they sat there. Briana trying to soothe herself and Morgan at a complete lose of what to do.

He wanted to help her. Form the moment she introduced herself to the team, he saw her as an evil, an enemy. It wasn't until her breakdown that he saw her as an actual person. And that was terrifying.

Never before had he seen someone in such a state. He was pretty sure the only person in the elevator who had was Reid. He was the one that kept telling everyone to back up, give the woman some space, but no one listened. They should have, they all knew about his mother, so of course he would know how handle Parker's break down. But they didn't listen, and they just made it worse.

Derek took another look at the woman sitting beside him. She had stop shaking and her tears were nothing but stains on her still-red cheeks. She sniffled one last time, stood up, and whispered a deathly quiet 'thank you' before walking of to the stairwell.

**_A/N: I wanted to develop Morgan a little more in this chapter, so I did. Next chapter will be plenty of Spencer/Bri, trust me. Except for the beginning, that'll still Morgan/Bri friendship. New chapter of Chess in Vegas is up. It's pretty half-assed, I'm not gonna lie. The next one should be better_**.


	4. Chapter 4

"I didn't know she'd be that scared." Emily muttered, guilt washing over her.

"Don't beat yourself up, Emily." Rossi tried to comfort, "None of us did. You were just trying to help."

The others went on discussing what had just happened, but Spencer was too lost in his own thoughts to chime in.

She wasn't just afraid of elevators; she was absolutely phobic of them. And during her panic-attack –even after years of living with a schizophrenic- Spencer was frightened. Not so much for his or the other's safety, but for Bri's.

If Morgan hadn't gotten her out when he did, God knows what would've happened. He's seen people snap, try to tear off their own skin or bash their head against walls, just because of phobias.

* * *

Morgan shot up and started jogging after her. When he got to the stair well door, it was barely closing. She couldn't have gotten far.

However, this was quickly proven wrong when Morgan himself entered the stairwell and saw her now where.

"Parker?" He called out into the seemingly empty stairwell, hearing the echo continue on into oblivion.

"Yo!" He heard her yell back from some point above him. Looking over the ledge and up, Morgan saw Parker looking down at him from about three flights up.

"Stay there!" He demanded as started jogging up to her.

When he caught up, he saw her standing patiently.

"H-how...did...yo-you-"He tried to ask between huffs. You never really understand how much running up stairs will take out of you.

Thankfully, Parker seemed to know what he was trying to say.

"I've taken the stairs most of my life. It's kick-ass cardio."

Before Morgan could get another word in, she was jogging up the stairs, leaving him in the dust.

"Damnit Parker!" he shouted after her as he chased her down- or up, in this case.

In less than a minute, they were on their floor, Bri slightly winded, Morgan gasping for air. Briana waited politely for her co-worker to stop dying before she started walking towards their rooms.

"So," she heard a still tired Derek Morgan start from behind her, "you said you've taken the stairs most of your life. Why?"

She turned to him with confusion written on her face.  
"Did you not just witness my huge panic-attack?"

Morgan laughed hardily before replying, "Yeah, but why are you so phobic?"

* * *

The team- minus two- filed out of the elevator and into the hallway. Halfway down they hear Morgan laughing.

"How did they get up here before us?" Reid heard Prentiss mutter.

Before anyone could answer, they all turned the corner and each began to wonder why Morgan had been laughing when Parker looked ready to kill him.

"I'm not phobic." She all but growled, her body stiff and over-all demeanor slightly, evil.

"A phobia is an irrational fear. My personal fear of elevators is perfectly rational for my situation. Do not ever imply that I'm irrational again, got it?"

Everyone was silent, the shock overwhelming them. This was the second time that Briana Parker seemed to fill every corner of the room- or hall- and it was scary. The entire team stood in utter silence, each too scred to break it- including Hotch.

Thankfully- and strangely enough- the lovely Marine returned.

Spencer saw him first. He was tall and sporting a buzz cut, some light brown fuzz decorating the top of his head. The marine seemed to feel the ominous force taking over the hallway, fore he looked up form his cell phone, purely confused.

Spencer continued to watch as the marine caught sight of Bri, and smiled. Walking up behind her, the marine flashed them the 'keep quiet' finger-to- lips sign, and slowly rose his hands to her waist.

In a second, he grabbed her waist and she shrieked so loud and so high pitched it was a wonder that the windows didn't break.

"HOLYMOTHEROFGOD!"

She whipped around to face the marine and started slapping his chest.

"You son of a bitch, I told you to stop doing that." She scolded, emphasizing every word with a playful hit.

"But it's so fun." He replied as he grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away from his chest.

She was still pouting when he pulled her into a hug.

"I loves you." He told her in a goofy voice.

"No you don't." She argued, keeping her arms between both of their chests in resistance to the hug. "If you did, you wouldn't have forced me on the elevator."

"Hey," He said defensively, turning towards Prentiss, "She was gonna do it anyway. How'd it go, by the way?"

"I had a huge panic attack and thought the they all were walls trying to squish me." She stated plainly as she turned to leave down the hall.

"Someone needs to stop watching Indiana Jones."

As she turned the corner everyone began walking after her, seeing as she held the keycards.

"So what are you doing here, Tyler?" Spencer heard Bri ask the marine- Tyler.

"Lay-a-way." He answered, "Tomorrow I'm hopping on a plane and going straight home to see Annie and Kelsey."

"How old is she now?" Bri asked while handing out keycards at random.

"Annie or Kelsey?" Tyler inquired, "Cuz Annie won't tell me her age..."

"Kelsey." Briana said with a luagh.

"Turning six next month." Tyler told her, a proud smile gracing his face as his eyes glazing over.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by someone form down by the elevators, "Yo T-diggs!"

Tyler's eyes cleared instantly and his posture changed form relaxed to attentive.

"Yeah?" he called over his shoulder.

"Serg wants us!"

"Gotchya!" Tyler called back once more before starting down the hall

"Later!" He hollered to Bri.

"Peace out T-diggs!" She called back with a giggle.

A distance 'Shut up!' was heard ringing through the halls, which of course just made Briana laugh harder.

Hotch gave orders to meet back at the police station in an hour and each person went to their room.  
Spencer's just happened to be right next door to Bri's.

This wouldn't have been a problem, had there not been a door conjoining the two rooms.

Halfway through unpacking, Spencer heard a knock on said door.

"Come in!" He called. He watched as the door opened and revealed a beautiful Bri in black sweatpants and a tight red t-shirt.

"You know we have to go back to work later, right?" Spencer asked in amusement, watching as she made herself comfortable on his bed.

"I know," She said with a lazy smile and closed her eyes, "But that's not for another 50 minutes."

Spencer gave her an incredulous look, though he knew she couldn't see it.  
"You unpacked in less than 10 minutes?"

"Mhmm." She hummed. "I don't take all of my clothes out of my bag. I take out what I need for my next choice of attire, put my tolitrees and makeup bags in the bathroom and I'm done. Only takes about five minutes. And I don't appreciate that look."

"Sorry." He apologized. "Wait, how di-"

"I'm a woman, sweety," She said in a sultry voice, "We know all."

"Square root of pi?" He challenged, his clothes now forgotten."

"Oh please. 1.772453 and blah, blah blah, blah blah. Who doesn't know that?"

"Reason for World War 1?"

"Okay, I'll give it to you, not a lot of people know that."

Spencer crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the dresser/tv stand.  
"Do you?"

"Mutual Defense Alliance, Imperialism, Militarism, Nationalism," She listed, "However, the main cause was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria."

While thoroughly impressed, Spencer still refused to give in, and chose a different route.

"Classic traditions when viewing 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'?"

By now she had sat up, bracing herself on her elbows and forearms and was looking at him with her- at this time- baby blue eyes.

"Throwing toast in the air whenever someone says 'A toast!'. Throwing Scott brand paper products in the air when someone yells 'Great Scott!'. And lastly, people in the back rows bring fully loaded squirt guns and fire them at the screen when the rain scene comes up. People in the front hold newspapers over their heads like Janet does."

Knowing he was loosing this battle and getting desperate, Spencer threw out the most random fact he knew.

"Size of whale sperm?"

He started to get nervous when Briana hoisted herself off of his bed and walked to him, quickly closing the distance between them. Her body was pressed against his so that he could feel every dip and curve of her sensational body.

"Same size as all mammal sperm, just in a much larger quantity. That which also varies depending on the type of whale."  
She smirked. "Why are we talking sperm, Dr. Reid?"

He could practically feel his own eyes darken in sheer lust and he starred directly into her eyes, not trusting his to not look a little further south.

For what felt like hours, they stood there. Bodies pressed right up against each others to the point where they were essentially one. No words were passed as the sexual tension filled the air around them.

Spencer watched as a few strands of Briana's beautiful auburn hair fell in her face, her piercing eyes continued to stare into his from behind the deep-red hair, the contrast breath-taking.

He followed the mahogany river down to her plump pink lips. God, they looked so soft and smooth and so incredibly kissable.

Before he knew what he was doing, Spencer brushed the hair back behind her ear and slowly began his descent to her perfect lips.

At the last second, he heard a phone ringing and Briana immediately moved her lips from his path while she fished for her phone in her pocket. Spencer gladly settled for her neck.

"Parker." He heard her greet as he began to kiss and lightly suck.

He watched her face through half-closed lids and loved the sight of her biting her gorgeous lower lip to keep from moaning into the phone.

Spencer could feel his member straining against his zipper and poking at Briana's stomach. If she registered it at all, she didn't show it.

Not a moment later, she snapped her phone shut and pulled away from him.

"I have to deal with Strauss." She told him as she walked back towards her room and started re-dialing her phone. "We'll talk later."

And with that she was gone, and Spencer was alone, basking in some new found glory.

Until the fog cleared from his head and he realized that he was about two minutes from screwing his new co-worker.

"Crap."

**_A/N: in case you couldn't figure this out on your own, this could very easily become a M rated story. And don't get use to Tyler. He was just kind of a filler character. There will probably be a lot of them, just to help give Briana Parker a little more dimension. _**


	5. Chapter 5

"Alright." Hotch started as he walked into the conference room. "We know the pattern, have we determined the next potential victims?"

"The Dubay family." Emily told him. "They took care of Maggie in her late teens. We called them and Mr. and Mrs. Dubay agreed to come in tomorrow morning after they get their kids to school."

"Alright, Morgan- you and Reid go to the school in the morning, tell the staff what's going on and work on protection detail. Rossi, you and Parker are going to Orlando to gather as much information about the case as you can. Prentiss, you'll talk to the Dubays when the arrive. Everyone get a-"

"Uh, sir?" Garcia interrupted, suddenly flashing up on the monitor .

"Garcia, I thought you went home for the night?" Hotch asked.

"I did, but I couldn't sleep so I came back and did a search on Maggie and Richie's birth parents..."

"And?" Emily urged.

"Well... uh, their mother was kind of the town whore and happened to be sleeping with the richest guy in town- Greg Townsend. Well, one night, Greg and Rebbeca- the mother- went missing. A few days later, the family was run out of town. About a month after that, the father- Jeremey Gray- ran off and no one has heard from him since."

"What was Gray like?" Reid inquired.

Garcia did some searching and responded in a matter of second, "On welfare, no house, the family apparently lived in a large shed."

"So the UnSub is Jeremy Gray?" Briana asked.

"We don't know that for sure." Hotch scolded.

Briana simply rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance.  
"Okay, fine. My personal speculation is that the unidentified subject of our hunt is Jeremy Gray. Better?"

"Yes." Hotch replied plainly. "Now why do you think that?"

"I'm not a profiler, why are you pushing?" Briana asked, the annoyance still present.

"Because everyone on this team is a profiler. Garcia is, JJ was, Jordan Todd was and now you are. You made a claim, support it."

"Well," She started, her eyes slanted up to the right, "he all together failed at life, apparently. Couldn't hold a steady job, the whole family lived in a shed, so he obviously couldn't support them. Then his wife cheats on him with the guy who's everything he isn't. Ouch. So he snaps, kills the wife and boyfriend and leaves it be. Eventually he ditches his kids but then gets really pissed off because- even though they were living with like, ten to fourteen other people at a time- they were still better off then when they were with him. Throw in a deadly combination of male pride and excessive stupidity, and you're just asking for trouble."

Spencer had to strangle back a laugh. Though everything she said was correct and made perfect sense, the less-than-professional way she said it gave a much needed dose of reality to the situation. They were always looking at the UnSubs as puzzles, nothing more. She looked at them as actual people.

"Okay," Hotch announced, breaking the silence, "Morgan, Reid, you two go back to the hotel and get some sleep. Emily and I will go to the Dubays, explain exactly what's going on and get them security. Rossi, Parker, get on the jet now and go down to Orlando. I don;t care how late it is, we need to catch this man. Garcia?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Do anything you have to to find Gray, short of getting yourself on another watchlist."

"Yes, sir."

And with that, the screen went blank and the room was moving.

"I'll call the pilot." Parker told Rossi, "You go get the car started."

* * *

Morgan and Spencer stood silently in the elevator, each thinking about the case. Or so Spencer thought.

"So you like Parker?" Morgan questioned.

Reid looked at him in shock. "N-no, I mean, she's great at her job and has an amazing personality-"

"And every time you see her, you blush. She reverted you back to stuttering- which you haven't done in years- and you seemed relieved when Hotch paired us together. You're nervous around her."

"That's doesn't mean that I have some kind of thing for her."

"You acted the same way around JJ when she was new."

That comment for some reason struck a chord.

"Do **not** compare Briana to JJ." Spencer growled, rage coursing through his veins.

Morgan just looked at him and said nothing more. Not a minute later, the doors opened and Spencer stormed out.

How dare he compare Briana to JJ! They were completely different. JJ was a quiet leader and a warm, motherly figure. Briana was a take-charge woman who was very protective of herself and probably her friends.

And just what the hell was Morgan implying? That the only reason Spencer has feelings for Briana because she represented someone that he's had underlying feelings for?  
Well that's bullshit. As if he can't decipher between two different woman.

Spencer walked into his room and fell onto his bed. He knew the differences. He knew that he liked Briana **for **Briana and not JJ. So why couldn't he get what Morgan said out of his head?

* * *

"So," Rossi began as he sat down across from Briana, "How do you like the BAU?"

She looked up at him from under her bangs and replied in a confused voice, "It's fine, I guess."

Rossi just smirked and took a sip of his coffee. Briana took this as an ending to the conversation and looked back down at her work.

"What happened in the elevator?" He asked light-heartedly.

"I got scared." She told him simply, not looking up form her papers.

"Why?"

"I don't like elevators."

"I never would have guessed."

They sat in silence for a while, Rossi waiting for her to break, Bri trying to ignore his eyes boring into her skull.

"I had a traumatic experience on an elevator when I was really young. And then another when I was a teenager." She explained, glazing over the actual events in hopes that he'd let it drop.

"What happened?"

Damn.

She sighed and continued to stare at her work.  
"When I was six, I had to go to weekly therapy sessions. It was winter, so night had already fallen and it was storming. My dad had told me to go up, that he needed to find a spot in the parking garage. I was in the elevator alone and scared of the storm, the the elevator car stalled.

"The power went out and the car kept jerking and I was little and alone and terrified, screaming for my daddy. Eventually, the fire department came and pried open the doors. I thought they were monsters coming to eat me."

She took a shaky breath and blinked back tears before continuing.

"Life went on and the memory soon migrated to the back of my mind, until I was thirteen."

She could feel Rossi watching her intently, gauging every reaction.

"I was at the mall playing Man Hunt with some friends. I was alone in the elevator, again, and just chillin'. Then, the car stalled- again. Before I knew what the hell was happening, a huge thundering sound echoed through the car and I felt my stomach fly into my throat. Then there was a crash and everything was black.

"The cables had snapped half way up to the third floor. When the car crashed, I had hit my head and messed up the Occipital Lobe of my brain. I was blind for three months."

Rossi didn't know what to say. Was there really anything to say?

He watched her hand start gliding over her paper once again and took it as his queue to got up and walked away, giving her shoulder a small squeeze as he passed.  
She looked up at him and gave a small smile before returning to her work.

_**A/N: So yeah, real events with the whole elevator thing. Scary stuff, dude.**_


	6. Chapter 6

So it all came down to this. A standoff. How perfectly stereotypical.

Jeremy Gray was currently holding the youngest Dubay at gun point and nothing the team was trying was working. There was no place for snipers or to even surround him and the bastard was using the poor kid as a human shield.

"Gray, you don't want to do this." Hotch tried once more.

"The hell I don't!" Gray laughed.

"Let the kid go, Gray." Rossi demanded.

"Shut up."

Everyone's eyes were on Briana. What the hell had she just said?

"Seriously," She continued, sounding like a teenager, "Who the hell are you to tell him what to do?"

She could feel Gray's eyes on her. Watching her, testing her. It was now or never.  
"I mean honestly," she started again; "The freaking government said he wasn't raising his kids right. Why is it their place to judge him? And then these stuck up people, what? Are they better than him? What the hell do they know about raising kids that he doesn't?"

The young child, Tommy, could feel the bad man's grip loosen. With the agility only someone of his age possessed, Tommy broke away from the stranger's hold and sprinted towards his parents- who were standing on the sidelines with tears in their eyes. He was in his mom's death-hug and craned his neck to watch the buff, black agent handcuff the terrifying man. He then looked towards the pretty girl; the one had distracted the bad guy. The other agents were smiling at her and telling her something- probably that she did a good job. She did. She helped him get away.

Tommy struggled against his mother's grip and told her and his father that he'd be right back. He ran up to the pretty girl and wrapped his arms around her hips- hey, he was only so tall.

"Thank you." He whispered.

He felt her run her hand through his hair as she whispered back with an obvious smile, "It was my complete and total pleasure."

* * *

The team had gotten home- to the BAU, that is- around eight o'clock at night. Give two hours to mindless paperwork and twenty minutes to commute, and Spencer didn't get home until about ten thirty. Briana had offered him a ride back to the apartment building when she left around nine forty-five, but he had declined, spewing some garbage about having to meet some supervisor. In all actuality, he just didn't want to be alone with her.

It had been a week since the almost kiss in his hotel room, and they have yet to have the time to talk about it- focusing on the case, then doing nothing but paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork. But this didn't bother Spencer- the no talking, not the paperwork; he hated the paperwork. He really didn't want to talk about it. He was ungodly embarrassed for one, it was just a bad idea career wise and frankly, it was way to forward. He was really hoping that the whole situation would just die if no one brought it up.

He was now walking down the dingy basement corridor, nothing but the darkness of midnight showing through the half windows as he carried his laundry basket down to the only room with a light still on. He didn't like having to do his laundry this late, but it was the only way he didn't risk running into her.

"Touch-a touch-a touch-a touch me. I wanna be dirty."

Maybe he should just become a hermit.

"Why are you here so late?" He asked the singing woman, who was sitting on top of a dryer as usual.

"Couldn't sleep." She answered with a smile, still swaying to the music in her head. "Went on a massive cleaning kick. You?"

"Same."_ Sorta..._

Continuing his run of 'no-eye-contact' that he had started the moment he heard her singing, Spencer made his way to the other side of the room.  
Everything was quiet, save for the roar of the machines and the slight female humming that a young doctor refused to think about, Spencer loaded a machine, focusing his eyes on what was in front of him.  
His other senses, however, no so much. It was almost as if the entirety of his being was honing in on her. Even from across and with the strong odor of detergent over powering it, he could still smell the remains of her Sweet Pea perfume.

"So what did the supervisor have to say?"

Spencer snapped out of his trance and looked at Bri.

"Wh-what?"

"The supervisor." She repeated, "what was the meeting about?"

_Crap._

"Oh, uh…"

"Did it have anything to do with the Tobias incident?" she inquired cautiously.

Spencer looked at her in pure shock.

"I-I'm sorry." She apologized immediately, looking terrified, "Rossi and I were talking and we just somehow got on the subject and he told me what he knew about how you got kidnapped on a case, but I really didn't want to hear any more than that from anyone but you, 'cuz you know, it's your story and everything and I feel as though if anyone should tell me it should be you because frankly, I'd hope you give me the same honor and respect but as I let it sit my curiosity grew and I wanted to know more, but still only from you and it's been driving me mad and I had no idea how to bring it up and now that I have I feel like I've crossed some li-"

"Okay, okay, relax" Spencer said, trying to calm the panicking woman as he himself tried his best to comprehend what she was saying- seeing as she was speaking so quickly. "It's alright, I guess, you just kind of caught me off guard. No one has really brought it up in a while."

"See!" She shouted, still in distress, "I brought it up! It was supposed to be dead-in-the-water, bury the hatchet type deal and I didn't know that and I brought it up and I'm so sorry, Spencer!"

"It's okay." He urged, noticing that she was close to hyperventilating, "It's alright, I'm not mad." He told her in sincerity.  
He couldn't help but smile when she looked up at him with probably the most adorable puppy-face he'd ever seen- including his own.

"You're not?" she pouted.

"No," he laughed slightly, stroking her arm comfortingly, "I'm not mad. What happened with Tobais and all of the aftermath is in the past."

She gave him a weak smile and nodded, surprising him with a hug.

He returned the hug- wrapping his arms around her slender waist and holding her close- and took a moment to reel in her beautiful scent and just how amazingly soft her hair was.

"So," she began again softly when she pulled away slowly, "what did the supervisor want, then?"

Spencer could hear her voice forming words, but he just wasn't able to comprehend what she was saying. She was still so close, her soft hands still resting on around his neck. He was sure that from the outside they looked like embracing lovers.  
_If only._

It was entirely impossible for him to focus on anything aside from Briana while she was so near, while she gave him that sweet and warm smile, while she looked at him with those mesmerizing eyes.  
She wasn't JJ. She was Briana Parker, sweet, strong, beautiful, compassionate and determined Briana Parker.

She was the woman he lo-

"Spencer?"

For the third time that night, he was brought back from space by the sound of her lovely voice.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. The supervisor just, uh, needed to talk about some mis-filed paperwork." _Sure, yeah, okay._

"Stupid interns." She mumbled jokingly, causing them both to laugh slightly.

Suddenly, the room was filled with a loud, mechanical buzz and Briana broke away from, walking towards her dryer. He watched as she put her basket on the floor and empty the contents of the dryer into said basket. She picked the basket up and knocked the dryer door closed with her hip agian.

"Night, Spencer." She addressed as she walked past

"Good night, Briana." He replied, barley making it before she was completely out of the room.

Even with her gone, Spencer swore he could feel her hands around his neck.

_**A/N: 'Toucha, Toucha, Toucha, Touch Me.' from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I demand at least three reviews before I even think about updating.**_


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey Morgan?"

Derek looked up from his cup of coffee to see a very timid looking Reid and couldn't help but chuckle a little bit.

"Whatchya need, kid?"

He continued to watch in amusement as his younger teammate squirmed, wringing his hands and avoiding all eye contact.

"Um, well, I kinda like this girl and uh, I really don't know how to, uh-"

"Hey guys." Briana greeted cheerfully as she walked into the break room wearing a light brown t-shirt and bleached-out jeans, her hair a mess.

Derek repressed a laugh at Spencer's obvious nervousness around the woman. His face was completely flushed and it was a miracle his hands were still attached to his wrists. Whatever he was freaking out about before just got ten-times worse.

"So what were you doing with your so called "day-off", Parker?" Morgan asked with a smile, trying to avoid the awkward silence that was hanging so delicately above them.

She turned around and gave him a dazzling smile, "Playing football in the park with some friends. You guys?"

"Just chilled at home with Clooney."

"Clooney?"

"My dog. So what about you, Pretty Boy? How was you're "day-off"?"

Reid's eyes went as wide as they had ever been and his cheeks and lips drained of all color. Had Morgan not known any better, he'd bet that the kid was about to walk into an all-girls middle school wearing an Anti-Twilight shirt.

"Um, uh, f-fine, I guess."

Briana giggled and smiled at the flustered young man.

"Alright then," She began as she started walking out of the room, "I'm going to go talk to Strauss and find out just what the hell was going on."

Derek watched the woman walked down the hall and turn out of sight.

She was gorgeous, there was no doubt about that. She had a strikingly beautiful face and an amazing body. He had seen her on her first day down in the lobby and had a mind to ask her out. A call from Hotch took care of that. After he found out about her new role, all of the attraction was gone in an instant.

But now it was back. And with a vengeance.

"-and I have no idea how to do that and I was hoping you could give me some pointers."

Wait. Was Reid talking this whole time?

"Sorry, kid, could you repeat that?"

He looked on as a still nervous Spencer took a deep breath and started over.

"There's a new girl in my building and I really like her and I think I want to ask her out, but I don't know how and-"

"Well alright!" Derek exclaimed with a proud smile and a pat on the shoulder to Reid, "Way to go Lover Boy."

"I haven't asked her out yet!" Reid countered with a fierce blush. Morgan caught on in a second.

"Have you done something else?"

The red face gave Morgan his answer.

"Damn kid!" He laughed.

"W-we didn't do anything like, like that. We just kinda ki-kissed and stuff." Reid defended as he stumbled over his words.

"And stuff?"

"W-well..."

Just then, a flood of color burst through the door. When the hyper-active personified rainbow caught sight of Reid wearing his signature red face from years ago, a wicked smile graced a purple-painted lips.

"And just what are we talking about, hmm?" Garcia questioned evilly as she walked over to Morgan's side.

"Pretty Boy's got a crush." Derek filled her in, "Haven't been on a date yet, but have already 'kissed and stuff'."

A twisted little glint flashed through her eyes as she turned her attention to a very uncomfortable Reid.

"What's 'and stuff'?"

Reid just ran his hands over his face and shook his head 'no', going out of his way to avoid eye contact.

"No?" Garcia asked, "Fine, we'll guess. Was the kiss a sweet little cliche kiss, or was it a steamy make-out session kiss?"

Reid crossed one arm over his chest and used the other hand to cover his mouth. With that hand, he put up two fingers.

"Make-out session?" Garcia asked in shock and a wide smile.

Reid nodded.

"Omigod, omigod, omigod!" She exclaimed, hopping up and down, "Okay, okay. What ended the kiss?"

Reid mimed 'phone'.

"A phone call?" *insert nodding Spencer here :p* "Ooooo, alright, what do you think would have happened had there not been the phone call?"

For an answer, Reid just simply walked away to the counter.

With a squeal from Garcia and hardy chuckle from Morgan, Reid's face color deepened ten more shades. Morgan was actually surprised the poor kid's face hadn't exploded from the blood- pressure yet.

"Look," the poor guy said in frustration, "Are you going to help me or not?"

The two others laughed before Morgan replied.

"Alright kid, regardless of whatever did or didn't happen with the kiss, you still have to treat her like a lady. She'll want sweetness and romance, not just a passionate night or two."

"Yeah, I figured that much," Reid told him, "But I'm not sure how to do the whole 'sweet' thing."

Garcia took this as her queue.

"Okay, you could get her a puppy with a cute little purple bow tied on the collar. Or you could send her a dozen roses, or take her horse-back riding on the beach, or-"

"-Or you could ask her out to get a cup a coffee." Hotch suggested as he walked pass the open room.

The three just looked after him before Morgan turned to Reid.

"I'd go with that."

* * *

Spencer looked to the other side of the plane where Briana sat alone filling out some paperwork. Of the entire team, she undoubtedly had the most to do.

He looked around and noticed everyone in their own worlds, paying no attention whatsoever to this one. It was now or never. He got up and started walking over to Briana, still wearing her football attire. 'This is my day off. You went outside of your rights and called me in. For the rest of the goddamned day, I will wear whatever the hell I want.' were her exact words to Strauss on the matter.

All of the air left Spencer's lungs when Briana looked up at him with- what were today- stunningly gray eyes.

"Um, I was, uh, wondering..." _Geez, great start, Genius. _"Umm...What is on your shirt?" _Nice job. Way to stay on topic._

"A picture of a mole." She replied simply with a smile. "The picture it's self made out of Avogadro's number."

Spencer laughed at the Chemistry pun and gave her a look. "That is...so incredibly nerdy."

She laughed with him, her smile widening, "I know, but I'm a nerd, so it all works out. I actually tried to explain it to one of my friends. He just looked at the shirt, looked at me, pointed at the shirt and said 'that's not an avocado.'"

"Your friends are rather special, aren't they?" Spencer joked, feeling much more comfortable than a few minutes ago.

"I love my friends, I do," She assured him before continuing, "but I wish that I could have an intellectually stimulating conversation with someone, you know?"

_Alright Reid, now's your chance._

"Well, uh, hopefully on the same page," He began again, praying that he would stay on topic this time, "I was uh, wondering, if uh, you might want to get a cup of coffee after the case is over."

She looked up at him with a warm, sincere smile gracing her lips. "Yeah, I'd really like that."

"Great!" He squeaked out, mentally cursing his vocal cords and clearing his throat, "Um, I don't know when the case will be over...so..."

"We'll play it by ear." She told him, still wearing her fantastic smile.

"So... I guess I'll see you later."

"Buh-bye." She said playfully, "Have a safe trip to the other end of the plane."

Not really knowing what to do next, Spencer just gave her a small wave before walking back to where he came from.

He took a seat and put his elbows on the table in front of him, resting his head in his hands, letting out a sigh of relief. His head shot up when giggling echoed through the cabin. He saw a merry Briana looking over the back of her seat. She gave him a flirtatious little wave before sitting back down.

Reid put his head back into his palms, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Damnit."

**_A/N: 1) Falling off of a one-story roof is damned funny, but still hurts like hell lol_**

**_ 2) I do not hate Seaver. If you do, stop being a little sixth grader and get over yourself. We were just introduced to her, don't hate on 'the new kid' before you know any real thing about her._**

**_ 3)I've never asked anyone out, but I'm assuming it's rather nerve-wracking. And Briana isn't being a bitch, she's just being playful and flirty.  
_**

**_ 4) I had this whole thing typed, then as I went to save it, the f*#!%^ site logged me off without informing me, so all of my work was lost and I had to re-type it all._**

**_5) link to Briana's awesome shirt and so many more at the top of my profile!  
_**


	8. Chapter 8

Morgan, Reid and Parker all sat around a small, round table two days later. They had been called in on an 'emergency case', a woman being kidnapped every Wednesday; no similarities between them aside from a general age range, and not a single body to be found. Because of the complete lack of anything to help narrow any and all searches down, they had to cover all bases entirely. The trio was currently going over every file of every 19-28 year old kidnapped female in the tri-county area over the past fifteen years. Let's just say: not fun.

Except for Reid.

He could feel two sets of eyes on him- starring for about three and half straight minutes. Finally deciding that it was worth the risk, Spencer looked open at an annoyed Morgan and an amused Briana.

"You are so lucky." The female said with a laugh- looking at his huge piles of already read files. She then took a glance over to Morgan's side of the table and laughed.

"You are so not."

Reid looked over to Morgan's 'finished' pile and felt his jaw go slack. It had been two hours and there were only about twenty files in it. Briana's was much more extensive.

"Why the hell is it taking you so long?" She asked him, "Are you reading the entire file or something?"

Morgan just gave her a look and nodded.

"Why?" She shouted with a laugh.

"You're not?" He asked somewhat self-consciously.

Spencer tried to stifle a laugh, but according to the way Morgan directed his attention at the young man, he had failed.

"What are you laughing at, Pretty Boy?"

"We can't afford to read the full file." Briana explained- saving a poor Spencer who looked like the stereotypical dear in headlights, "There are way too many. You got to speed read."

"How the hell am I supposed to speed read?" Morgan snapped, the stress of the case getting to him, "We don't have a damned thing to narrow this down."

"Yes we do." She argued. "We have the lack of bodies. If the victim's body was found, then she's automatically out. Also, there is one major physical similarity between all of our victims."

"There is?" Spencer inquired in shock. Had they all missed something?

"Yeah," She answered, picking out one her previous files and tossing it too him. "They're all gorgeous. Like Barbie Doll so." Spencer opened the folder and saw a picture of a…not so pretty young woman. "I didn't catch on until that file, but then it made sense. Their all like the classic Sorority Girl stereotype; hot bods, thick make up, big hair."

"How does that matter?" Garcia asked, popping up on the main screen.

"It's the victimology," Morgan told, "as simple as it is."

"So what? We're looking for a pissy ex-frat boy who never got laid?"

"Probably." Reid scoffed. He never got laid in college. Granted, he was thirteen when he started college, but still.

"Well then what I'm about to tell you should help majorly," Garcia prepped, "Our three victims, Holly, Megan and Rachel, all went to the same college and were in the same internship program at some point."

"How old were they?" Briana inquired, thinking back to her college days. She took an internship as a paralegal in her sophomore year. She was 20 years old at the time.

"Holly was 19, Megan and Rachel were 21. They were each a year apart from each other in schooling."

"Okay, hold on." Morgan interrupted. "These girls went to the same college within a few years of each other, they all took part in the same program while they were at the college and all eventually moved to the same town?"

"He's an opportunistic killer." Reid concluded. "If the girls never moved here, he'd probably never have started killing."

"But how did he know that they were here?" Morgan questioned. "It may have only been a few years since they graduated, but these girls changed as the got older, they don't look the way they did in college."

Everyone looked at the photos on the screen and the comparison photos Garcia had pulled up. Morgan was right- the hair was more natural, the makeup was in fewer quantities and the clothes were more mature. They each looked like a new person.

That's when it made sense.

"Their counselor." Briana all but whispered, still staring at the pictures.

"What?" Spencer asked in disbelief.

"Their counselor." She repeated, more firmly, "A lot of people keep in touch with their guidance counselors, and even if the girls didn't, he'd still have access to their records."

"Why?"

"Stories." She answered, "The success stories, they need criteria for it, so they keep tabs on their clients."

"Garcia-" Morgan started

"Matthew Baillie. Originally Matthew Kempton. Counselor to all of the girls, got fired after never-ending reports of sexual abuse, moved to Boulder, Colorado three years ago, changed his last name and got a job as a high school counselor."

"I'll call Hotch." Briana said as they all grabbed their stuff and ran to the SUVs.

* * *

"That was a great catch, Parker." Hotch sort of, kind of, in his own way praised.

"I didn't do it alone, sir." She blew off, lowering her face to avoid people seeing her blush. She hated getting any kind of review on her work, good or bad. It was embarrassing and awkward.

"Either way, you did great."

Her blush deepened and she mumbled a 'Thank you', waiting for her boss to walk back to his seat on the plane.

When she could no longer hear his dissipating foot steps, Briana figured it was safe to look back up. Derek Morgan was sitting across from her.

"Jesus Christ, boy!" She shouted as she jumped in shock, successfully hitting her knees against the bottom of the small table between the seats.

She glared at him as he laughed and not-so-sincerely apologized. "I was just wondering if you were up for a trip around town tonight."

Briana couldn't help but stare at his cocky expression with a her own incredulous expression.

"Are you serious?"

He nodded.

"Even if I didn't already have plans tonight," She began, "there's not a chance I'd do anything like such with you."

He tried to speak up, but she just kept going.

"You're an ass. You hated me for no legitimate reason. You're a jerk and a bully and even though I'm forced to work with you, I don't have to do a damned thing outside of work with you. My entire life I have refused to associate with people who think they're so much better than everyone else. There is nothing that puts you above anyone else on this plane, and still, you walk around like you own the damn place. News flash, you don't."

Morgan gave her a shocked and pissed off look before replying, "You don't have to be such a bitch about it."

"Yes, I do." She corrected, "See, you're the type of guy who doesn't know the word 'no'. You like the chase, so if I'm sweet about the rejection, then you'll just chase after me, which would annoy me beyond reason until we get to this point-I'm just simply skipping over all of that middle stuff. And please, feel free to correct my judgment of you if it's wrong."

When he stayed silent, Briana took that as a conformation and gathered her things, seeing as the plane had just landed.

She jogged down the stairs and walked up to Spencer with a smile.

"You up for that coffee?"

He turned around and smiled back at her. "Let's go."

**_A/N: So I've started up In The Sun again, this time I've changed the future storyline so it has a much more...definite path, I guess, whereas before it was just kind of a 'wing-it' story. So, happy days about that. I should be updating Chess in Vegas soon. I'm thinking that one has about five or six more chapters before we're done. Then I'll work on this story and In the Sun. After one of these is either done or close to it, I'll start Cherry v. Lime. One more week of the cast on my wrist, then a week of a splint and it's done._**

**_Oh, and a woman from a pet shelter is bringing by to kittens, C. Spider and his brother Raven, on Friday (Dec. 24, 2010) for an in-house visit and interview. Wish us luck!  
_**


	9. Chapter 9

The two young adults sat together, a comfortable silence floating around the table as they each sipped their coffee.

Briana had yet to get settled in to the city all that well, so she was more than pleased when Spencer brought her here. She was expecting some kind of Starbucks, but this place, it was nice and relaxed. There were some people of middle age sitting scattered, some reading the newspaper, others books and others still just thinking or people watching. As a nice balance, Bri noticed the presence of a few teenagers, either reading their own books, on their laptops or doing homework. Everyone was happily in their world, no one bothering each other.

The soft hum of a coffee maker roaring to life filled the other-wise silent room with soothing background noise. Both Briana and Spencer glanced up to see a young man- probably twenty and working to pay for some college loans- hold a Grande sized paper cup to the milk-frother. His red curls bounced under the dark peach ball cap when he jumped back, the milk leaping out of the cup and onto his matching peach apron. The two agents chuckled quietly at the demonstration before turning to each other. They made brief eye contact before Briana quickly looked away, her cheeks burning slightly.

_Wait. Why am I blushing?_

She glanced back up and saw him giving her an adorably innocent smile.

_Oh yeah, that's why._

"So, what's your story?"

Briana looked at her company, her face riddled with confusion.

"What story?"

Spencer smiled softly. "I don't know. What's your family like? How did you come to the BAU? How did you get placed on this team? Stuff like that."

"Why do you think I'd answer any of that?" She inquired with an impressed smirk. She didn't expect this guy to be so direct.

"You seem like an open person." He answered easily.

"Well, you hit that one on the nose." She laughed. "My family is nice, I guess. We've had our tests, but who hasn't?"

Spencer mentally scoffed. _Damn right._

"I never really imagined myself working for the government, though." She admitted honestly, "I didn't apply until my senior year of college. The BAU specifically because I love to study people. I know I'm not a profiler by job title, but let's face it, every in the BAU is a profiler to some degree." Spencer nodded in agreement.

"And what about the job transfer?" He asked, knowing full-well that she had to have been in a different job before getting assigned to them. They didn't let just anyone in Quantico.

He watched with some concern and guilt when a dark aura fell over her face.

"Some, uh, personal issues were getting in the way of my job." She explained softly, "I heard about the opening and broke my pen signing up so fast."

Spencer got the hint and let the topic drop. So he just watched her. The dim lighting gave her pale skin a soft, almost heavenly, glow. Her wine colored hair was set aflame and the mimic candle-light accented the specks of silver in her eyes.

Letting his mind get away from him, Spencer imagined her lying under him, the warm glow of a dancing fire illuminating the beauty. He could see the lust and ecstasy in her darkened eyes, her lips parted slightly to allow the soft, musical pants to escape as he brought her closer to Wonderland than she had ever been as a child.

"Spencer." The musical voice whispered in delight. "Spencer. Spence."

"Spencer!"

The lightly agitated voice brought him back to reality. Noticing that his pants were getting uncomfortably tight, Spencer tried to get his mind off of the images by addressing the voice. It didn't work.

"What about your story?" The amused woman asked.

"Oh, uh," He stuttered, trying to clear the fog from his mind, "Well, I don't really have much of a biological family, I guess. My mother isn't well- she never really was. I took care of her for as long as I could, but when I turned eighteen I finally accepted that I had to admit her into a hospital." He told her quietly.

"Where was your dad during all of this?" She asked with genuine interest.

"He left us when I was ten. It just all became too much for him to handle."

The look in her eyes as a response to this rivaled those of some of the most hardened killers Reid had ever met.

"In reference to my choice of joining the BAU," He continued with a blunt change of subject, "I was approached by a man- my future mentor- Jason Gideon. After he told me about the job offer, I did some individual research and it just all seemed like the place for me. And evidently, the family I've met here almost makes up for the lack thereof from my childhood."

The smile Briana gave him warmed him more than his coffee did and he couldn't help but smile back. From the corner of his eye, Spencer noticed one of the teenagers check something (what he assumed was the time) on their phone and start packing up to leave. In response, Spencer checked his watched and noticed that it was almost nine. Not too late, but they did have work tomorrow.

"We should probably get going." He said quietly, standing up to pull on his coat and scarf. Accomplishing this task with record speed, Spencer helped Briana out of her chair. She took the hand he offered with a smile and gracefully rose out of the seat, lifting her dark purple, wool peacoat off the back of the chair and yanking it on, wrapping her navy blue scarf around her neck and grabbing her coffee. She walked around the table and to the door, Spencer picking up his own cup of coffee and following quickly.

They got outside and were treated with a blast of cold air. Briana hunched her shoulders and laced her free arm through Spencer's, pulling the two of them closer together. Spencer took a sip of coffee to cover the blush he felt coming.

* * *

The two were walking down the third floor hallway, their arms separated but each standing closer to the other than needed. They had ditched their coffee cups in a trash can a few blocks ago and both of them were trying to keep their hands busy- Spencer put his in his pockets, Briana decided to play with a ponytail band- to keep from reaching for each other.

During their walk home, the two of them had talked about anything that came to mind. Random stories from Briana's high school years, stories about the team from before Briana was on, and just basically everything to help them get to know each other better. Favorite colors, worst fears- though Bri refused to explain her fear of elevators- and stories about their parents.

"My dad took me with him to his office one day when I was around seven," Spencer told with a dreamy look in his eyes, and Briana knew instantly how much he missed those kind of moments with his family, "I swear, I feel in love with the spinning chair," He laughed, "My dad had his assistant bring in another one for me so he could sit back at his desk. I spent hours just spinning and playing with the adjusters. Eventually I dismantled the entire chair and everyone in the office watched in amazement when I put it back together."

Briana had to laugh at the images of a younger Spencer finding such childlike joy in something so simple. And then ,of course, letting his true genius colors show through.

"My dad took me, my brother and my friend to some caves once," She started with a smile, "My brother went all Spiderman and was climbing all over the walls to avoid walking through the water. Being his little sister, I made fun of him the entire time. Well, while I was focusing on him and not trying to see through the muddy water, I didn't notice the rock that I was about to trip over."

She was interrupted by Spencer trying to repress a laugh.

"By the time we got into the light of day, I looked like some creature from a bad horror movie." She laughed.

But now, there were no more stories. Now, it was the two of them standing in front of her apartment door, their oh-so-good-friend silence accompanying them.

"So."

"So."

"Uhhh," Spencer tried, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," She agreed, also at a lose of what to do. She didn't want the date to be over, but there wasn't much else they could do. "I'll meet you in the lobby at seven?" She asked in regards to their carpooling.

"Yeah, yeah." Spencer agreed nervously.

And so they stood, silent again.

And then they kissed.

Spencer had swallowed his fears and dove in, his lips finally meeting her ever plump and soft ones. She seemed shocked at first, but soon fell into the kiss, and eagerly returned it. Granted, it was a little sloppy- neither knowing the other's rhythm yet- but it was breathtaking nonetheless.

The images of his mini-fantasy at the coffee shop coming back and sending all of his blood south, Spencer pulled away before he lost all control.

"So, uh," He panted, his breaths just as heavy as her own, "I'll s-see you tomorrow. Goo...goodnight, Briana."

With a smile that easily took over her face, Briana replied, "Goodnight, Spencer. Sweet dreams"

He smiled back and turned to walk to the elevator. He pressed the 'up' button and turned his body in a way to be sure that Briana wouldn't see the evidence of just how sweet his dreams would be.

* * *

Derek Morgan leaned against the outside wall of some faceless store three blocks from Reid's, and what he assumed was Parker's, apartment building.

So Reid was the guy she had plans with tonight, and Parker was the new tennate that Pretty Boy had a crush on.

Morgan scoffed. _Some profiler you are, smart one. _

With a smile, Morgan shoved himself off of the brick wall and hailed a cab. He told the driver his address and leaned back against the seat.

Derek couldn't help but be happy for his Pretty Boy, the kid had finally found someone that he could have a semi-healthy relationship with. Not like those two girls from before- what were their names, Lily and Ashton?-and not like Haley and Hotch. That was one thing that attracted Morgan to Parker: she'd understand the job. Hell, she's on the job.

But, if Spencer wants her, Morgan wasn't about to get in the way. Tomorrow he would apologize to Parker and try to build a friendship with her, but nothing more. He had seen them walking all cozy-close together and laughing at something, and he wanted to see the both of them happy like that as often as possible.

But that doesn't mean he won't have a little brotherly fun.

Whipping out his phone, Morgan sent a quick text to the younger agent.

**Guess who I saw 2nite ;)**

**

* * *

**

**_A/N: Sorry this took so long, the freaky class times and the shitload of out-of-class work that a higher education calls for has totally messed with my mind. I'll try to update a little bit more often, but don't expect a lot and please understand the stresses of attending college (especially three years sooner than all of your friends :P)_**

**_I have a new story choice up for my poll. The title and summary are on my profile with all of the others. The story itself and really depressing and contains (focuses on, really, in the first half) mentions of rape, self-mutilation and suicidal tendencies. But it has a moral and makes a point and is really just all about how Spencer helps a young woman who was fucked over by life ten years ago and never got over it find herself, and her dreams, again._**

**_Love you all, and again, sorry for the late update. Please vote in the poll and if you can't or want to change your vote, PM me._**

**_Peace out :-X  
_**


	10. Chapter 10

Briana woke up to Bon Jovi blasting from her iHome.

"_Your love is like bad medicine.  
Bad medicine is what I need."_

Untangling her bare legs from the 450 count, red bed sheets, she walked over to her closet, her cold feet being soothed by the soft, white carpet.

"_And I got lots of money but it isn't what I need.  
Gonna take more than a shot to get this poison outta me."_

When she was a little girl, her parents had installed hardwood floors in the house. Though this actual installation- and family bonding time by association- was fun enough, the bitter cold winter nights that were all but guaranteed for the northern mid-west almost completely froze the wood and her morning feet. To say that she was ecstatic to get carpeting back her life would be an understatement.

"_Then you bleed  
(You get a little and it's never enough)"_

Dancing and singing along to her favorite band, Brea grabbed a pair high-waisted black slacks (her rather…plump booty not allowing her to comfortably wear normal pants), a red, short-sleeved ruffle-front shirt and black, pin-strip vest, she walked into her bathroom. She hopped from her carpet to the bathroom rug- making it a point to avoid touching the tile floor- and used her hands and the walls to propel herself over to the shower. Balancing carefully, she leaned around the curtain and turned on the water and shower head. The muffled sounds of Bon Jovi swirled with the fog and made for pleasant background noise as Briana stripped from her tee shirts and bikini style panties and stepped into the just-below-boiling-hot water.

* * *

Spencer awoke from a restless sleep to the annoying blaring of his alarm clock's bell. With a groan, he rolled over onto his stomach and beat the poor clock into submission, silence over-taking the plain bedroom. After a view moments, Spencer hoisted himself up on his arms and checked the time. Noting that it was only 5:45 am, and that he had plenty of time until he had to be at work, Spencer took his sweet time shuffling out his bedroom door and to the kitchen. Coffee first, personal hygiene later.

Going through the motions that were as second nature as brushing his teeth, Spencer got everything set up in less than thirty seconds and started his way to the bathroom.

He flipped on the lights- silently cursing when he was temporarily blinded- and trudged over to the sink. He turned the cold water on, balanced it out with some hot, and started to wash his face.

Last night had been hell after he got back to his apartment. He was so hard that he was seriously worried about passing out, Morgan had apparently seen himself and Briana together and decided that he was now going to harass Spencer the way only Morgan could, and he was freaking out about seeing Bri the next morning.

A realization hit Spencer like a twenty-ton truck driven by a speed-hungry teenager. He had to see Briana in less then two hours.

The coffee maker in his kitchen beeped loudly and Spencer went to go start another cup. He was gonna need it.

* * *

_"The kids are in danger,_  
_They're all getting habits,_  
_Because from what I can see,_  
_Everyone's at it._  
_Everyone's at it."_

Briana stepped out of her bedroom, leaving the door open so she could hear the music, and went to her stain-less steal filled kitchen. She reached for one of her hanging skillets- and small one she got specific for making eggs and grilled cheese sandwiches- sprayed it with some Pam and placed it on a burner set to 'medium-high'. Walking to the other side of the kitchen, she opened one of her cabinet and pulled out a small glass bowl, set it down on the counter, and moved to her fridge.

About five minutes later, she was leaning against one of the counters and watched the morning news on the small plasma-screen tv in her kitchen.

An over-throw in Egypt, a politician recovering from a bullet to the brain, and some health statistics that say everyone in America is morbidly obese. In other words, nothing new.

Turning off the small television, Briana put her freshly emptied plate and used fork in the sink and moved into the main room. After picking up her new reading book and the remote control, she switched on the much larger LCD to the local news and half listened to the anchors, half read the book- her music forgotten completely.

Apparently a house had burned down, there was a water-main break, and some city was wasting tax-payer's money. Shocker. And the main character of her book (A crime/romance) just found a threatening note under her windshield wipers. Would have never seen that coming.

"The time is six forty -seven and here's Richard King with the weather."

Briana turned off the television before the meteorologist had time to speak. She already knew the weather forecast (you gotta love the internet), memorized her page number before setting her book down, and started to get ready to leave.

* * *

Spencer dashed around his apartment looking for his badge. It was crunch time and he couldn't be late to meet up with Briana, but he couldn't forget his badge or ID, either.

Throwing pillows off of his bed, flinging open dresser drawers and basically wrecking his apartment, he finally found the black leather case.

He tossed it into his messenger bag, threw on some converse and sped for the door.

* * *

Briana grabbed her re-usable coffee cup (filled with soda) and walked out her door, her med-sized black leather purse hanging under her shoulder and her key ring decorated her middle finger.

Locking the door behind her, she walked leisurely to the stairwell door and started her trip down to the lobby.

* * *

Impatiently tapping his foot on the worn out 1980s carpeting, Spencer watched as the numbers above the elevator door slowly ticked away. He stared at the small black screen- willing the '2' to finally change and let him off.

A small red star lite up the tiny screen above the door and Spencer braced himself to be greeted by...

an empty lobby.

An unbelievable sense of disappointment flooded through him for whatever reason, and he made his move to start walking to the subway when the sound of a door opening caught his attention. He turned around and saw a smiling Briana walking out of the stair well- looking beautiful like always.

"Hey," She greeted with soft pink lips and pearly white teeth.

"Hey," Spencer replied, much less confident than Briana appeared to be.

"You ready to go?"

"Uh, ye-yeah, let's go." He stuttered, one hand tugging his messenger bag strap and the other running through his much shorter hair.

She giggled slightly and walked towards the in-building...or maybe adjacent-to-building would be more appropriate...parking garage.

Spencer followed after her and couldn't help but laugh when he saw the car she was going to.

"What?" She asked, her own laugh threatening to break through. _Good_, she thought,_ I love being around people with contagious laughter, it makes life more fun._

"I just," He started, "I just can't believe I never thought you'd have a Cadillac."

She looked at her car and shrugged, opening the driver-side door.

"I know what I like." The statement was simple enough, but Spencer caught himself hopping that maybe, just maybe, there was more to it.

* * *

**_A/N: Happy Be-Lated Valentines Day! Hope you all had a good one!_**

**_Okay, so, I kind of look a little older than I am (I have a mature body and face, so where as some 26 year olds consatantly get carded, I could propbably get away with it even though I'm ten years younger) and this was never really that big of a problem. Sure, when I was in highschool some people confused me for a student teacher ever now and then and when I was a lot younger some teenage boys had asked for number (really creepy, by the way. My daddy enlisted me in a self-defense class right after that. Of course, I was too young and innocent to understand what was going on :P) but, now that I'm in college about two years early, people seem to think that I am actually a lot older than I look.  
How do I know?_**

**_Well, I was typing this in the cafeteria so my roommate and her boyfriend could have the place to themselves- Happy V-day and all- and at least five creepers came on to me. I had to show them my id to get them to leave. Eventually I had to finish typing this in the girls' bathroom. Romantic, huh? Great Valentine's Day._**

**_But anyway, sorry it took me so long to update. I finished Chess in Vegas and I may start Cherry v. Lime soon, but I'd rather try to refrane from starting another story until I have either this one or In The Sun finished- but they're both going to be pretty long, so..._**

**_I don't know. I guess we'll see._**

**_I'll introduce Seaver in the next chapter.  
_**


	11. Author's Note important

Hi…..

This is Megan's (redblackroses23) friend Chelsy. Um...in case you all didn't know, a lot has been going on in her life- like going to college and starting adult-life sooner than any of us coupled with being a teenage girl and the wacky hormones and thinking that she's not normal just because she has the smallest breasts and the squarest face and no boyfriend even though it doesn't make since because regardless she is the prettiest and most emotionally and mentally appealing out of all of us- but I digress. So, as a result of all of this stress and a multitude of previously determined psychological issues from important development years of her childhood, she kind of had a slight mental breakdown and is currently in a hospital. She's on suicide watch right now and is also getting tested for some possible physical things (which of course doesn't help with stress, but whatever) so she won't be updating for a while. She does still write in a note book, and she wants me to tell you all that depending on how long everyone finds it necessary to keep her hospitalized, she might have me or another friend be kind of like a middle author.

She writes it.

We type and print it.

She reads and corrects it.

And so on like that until she thinks the chapter is perfect.

So, that's what's going on. Please be patient and send your best wishes. We'll try to get the next chapter up soon.

Chelsy


	12. Chapter 11

**Yo**

**So, uh, my name is Nick and I'm a typing sub for Chles cuz the ditz didn't realize that Bunsen burners tend to be a little hot to the touch. So Megs decided that as punishment for accidentally erasing three of the playlists off of her iPod, I'd be replacing Chels. Not fun.**

**Oh, and something I noticed when I read over Chels's note: She called Meg by her real name, while on the profile thingy it says her name is Louise. Just to clear up any confusion, her name IS Megan, her nickname is Louise. IDK why, so don't ask me.**

**Meg/Loui wld like you all to kno that she is doin alright. Therapy's goin well- she's cooperating fully. They want to keep her in for a few more days, just to be sure. After that they're probably gonna make her go to weekly sessions. You are all being informed of this because in between classes and the sessions, writing 'ill probably be at a minimum. **

**Also, 'thank you's go out to Full-Empty-Spirit, cakeface, Kimi2109 and Terra21. Your well wishes were and still are much appreciated**.

**So without further-a-due: The 'real' 11th chapter of Paradise: Lost and Found (I get the title btw! =D) as written by redblackroses23 and typed comma for comma by her unwilling slave, Nick.**

**Enjoy.**

Briana gently stirred her coffee in the small break room, acutely aware of everything that was going on behind in her in the bullpen. Emily was just getting settled in, tossing her bag in the seat and shrugging off her jacket. Spencer was talking with Garcia- probably about some classic book that was three-thousand pages long and Morgan...

Not there?

"Where the..." Briana whispered to herself, turning around to face her colleagues. Emily was at her desk. Spencer and Garcia were talking and laughing. Hotch was in his office- as was Rossi. and Morgan wasn't anywhere in sight.

Confused, she set her coffee on the counter and stared towards the pen. As she was walking, Emily looked up in her direction and brought her brows together in confusion.

'Why is she con-'

"SONOFABITCH!"

Heart racing and Warp 9, Briana spun around and glared at whoever it was that had the thought to tickle her. The glare, however, didn't seem to work on the cackling Derek Morgan.

She continued to glare at him while threating, "So help me, Morgan, if I had been holding my coffee God himself wouldn't have been able to save you."

"Come on," He urged with a playful smile, "It was just a joke."

"And how hilarious it was. Never do it again." She replied, picking up her coffee and walking out of the room.

Morgan followed.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something," He called out while chasing after her.

Sometimes being a fast-walker had it's advantages.

"About?" She called back. Focusing her eyes on her office door, she made it clear to him that she was only half-interested in what he had to say.

"Look," He started, having finally caught up to her, "I know I was a jerk and I'm sorry. I'm not going to tell you that I'm not normally like that because- circumstances repeated- I'd probably act the same way. But I will tell you that I am a decent guy and I think you'll see if you just give me a second chance."

Briana sighed before facing him. "Listen Morgan, there are two things that will keep me from giving you a fresh start. 1- I don't believe in second chances. I think you're first impression of person is usually correct. If the second impression is that same, than the impression was more than likely spot on. My first impression of you was a whiny ass. My second impression was a whiny ass. My third was-"

"Let me guess." Morgan interrupted, " 'A whiny ass'?"

"No," She debunked with a feigned smile, "An egotistical ass."

"Cute."

"Not really." She said with an eye roll. "Annoying actually."

"Alright, so that's you're first reason, what's your second?"

"I am in no way interested in you."

"Yeah, you've made that clear." He expressed, exasperated.

"Yup." She confirmed, opening her door and moving into her office.

Again, Morgan followed.

"But I'm not talking about that." He tried, "I saw you Reid last night and I'm happy for you guys, I really am and I hope you guys last. I'm not after a romantic relationship, I just want to be friends."

"Fine."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Sweet. Hey, we're all going to a local bar tomorrow night, you wanna join?"

"Who's 'we all'?" Briana asked sceptically. Morgan, Garcia and Emily seemed to be the only ones on the team that she could see enjoying a night on the town. With their company, she predicated Emily flirting with some random guy, Morgan chasing tail and Garcia talking about Morgan nonstop. Maybe she was wrong and they'd be good company, but maybe she was right and they'd be awful company and she'd hate every minute of it. Having been the third, fifth and sometimes seventh wheel throughout her entire high-school career, she was not willing to risk it.

"The whole team, surprisingly."

"Surprisingly?"

"Yeah," He told her, "It's a rare occasion, so I suggest you don't miss it."

Briana chuckled. "I'll think about it. But I make no promises."

"Good enough!" Morgan semi-shouted with a smile.

"Alright," she smiled, "I suggest you go to work now."

"Why?"

She nodded over by the glass doors, where a very PMS-y looking Strauss stood.

"Shit," he whispered, "Alright, I'll talk to you later."

"Later." She called, walking into her office and closing the door.

* * *

Around lunch time, there was a knock on Briana's door.

"Come in." She called from her spot in front of an open file.

Timid and shy, Spencer slowly opened her office door and stepped in.

"Hey."

"Hey," She smiled, setting her pen down and giving her...boyfriend?...her full attention.

"I saw you and Morgan talking this morning."

"Oh yeah," She waved off, "He was apologizing for being an ass and invited me to go out with the team tomorrow night to some bar."

"Are you going?" He asked.

She gave it a quick thought before replying. "I don't really know yet. Are you?"

"I don't think so." He shrugged, "It's not really my thing."

"Alright," She accepted, "So do you wanna do anything else tomorrow?" She asked him, hoping she didn't come off as nervous as she really was.

It didn't really help her nerves when he looked at her in shock.

"What?" She asked, and she could've sworn her voice wavered a bit. _Please let that have been my imagination._

"You're not going with the team?"

_Oh, thank God. _

"No," She replied simply, relieved that he wasn't appalled at her asking him out again, "Not if you're not. I don't know anyone else on the team well enough to feel comfortable around them."

"But how do you expect to get closer to them if you don't interact?"

"I don't. I never expected to get close to any of you. It was pure coincidence that we live in the same building. If we hadn't, I doubt we would have gone out together so fast, if at all." She told him truthfully while gauging his reaction. She was well aware that what she said could be offensive, but it was the truth. And she refused to censor the truth.

"But still..." he finally tried.

"No 'but's. I barely have fun going out with my best friends, why would I enjoy going out with a bunch of people I hardly know?"

"Because they make it fun."

"Then why don't you go?"

Silence.

_Gotchya._

"Exactly." She said triumphantly, going back to her files.

...

"Fine." He said after a few minutes of silence.

"Fine?"

"I'll go if you go."

_Bitch! _She screeched in her mind, but kept a straight outer face.

She knew what he was doing. He was challenging her. Fine, he wants to play that game, fine. Just fine. She'll play the game with him, fine!

"Fine." she said steadily.

"Fine." He smiled.

"Fine." She repeated, a little louder.

Spencer chuckled and started to leave her office. "Fine."

"Fine!"

The door shut behind him.

* * *

-Spencer's POV-

She strode through the bullpen, confidence surrounding her as per usual.

And Morgan following her around _as per usual._

Spencer chuckled to himself when Briana sped up.

Her hair bounced on her shoulders, the blood-red tendrils standing out against the black, striped vest and candy red top. She walked faster than most, but never looked to be in a hurry. She just seemed, otherworldly. Filled with grace and purpose at all times, she always seems to have this...angelic air about her. Like, regardless of how busy or stressed she was, some part of her was at peace.

**Flashback**

**"What the fuck, you little dickwad!" Briana cursed at a pickup truck that had cut her off. She flipped the truck off, causing what little control Spencer had on his laughter to be lost.**

**"What?" She asked over his laughter, "The guy's a bitch!"**

**End Flashback**

Even in her moment of classic road rage, Spencer couldn't help but think that she was still in some form of peace. Maybe he was just imagining it.

"Hey Reid." Emily called from her desk. He turned to her and raised his eyebrows in question.

"You going tomorrow?"

He quickly looked to Briana's office door.

"She's going."

Spencer's ears perked up.  
"Really?"

She smirked. "No idea. Maybe you could talk her into it."

He looked back up into the office and sighed. They were at work, meaning they probably shouldn't do anything couply. But no one knew they were a couple. He doesn't even know if they are, so would it be okay to talk about non-work related things at work? Well, why not? He used to do it all the time with JJ.

He and JJ would goof off all the time and they rarely got in trouble.

In fact, there was this one time-

"Reid?"

He snapped out of his daze at Emily's voice.

He looked form her face and back to the door. As he starred at it, a strange sense of guilt washed over, and he didn't know why.

"I'll go talk to her at lunch."

* * *

-Still Spencer's POV-

He walked towards her office- the guilt returning, hitting him like a god-damned lighting bolt. Howeverm he was at the door before he had time to contemplate it.

He knocked and a muffled 'Come in' rang through.

The guilt still with him, he gingerly opened the door and greeted her.

"Hey." She responded, and he was awestruck. She turned to him, her white skin glowing against her beautiful crimson hair. Her eyes- a light blue right now- danced with curiosity.

Feeling like an idiot just standing there, he realized he had to say something. Now.

"I saw you and Morgan talking this morning."

"Oh, yeah." She blew off. "He was apologizing for being an ass and invited me to go out with the team tomorrow night to some bar."

It was then that he remembered his purpose for being here.

"Are you going?"

There were a few moments of silent contemplation before she said, "I don't really know yet. Are you?"

"I don't think so." He shrugged, "It's not really my thing."

"Alright," She accepted, "So do you wanna do anything else tomorrow?" She asked him. He could tell she was scared. Her voice was an octave or two higher than normal and it cracked slightly half way through the question. He thought it was adorable.

"What?" Her questioned brought him back to reality, and he instantly felt horrible. There was small quiver in her voice, the kind you hear before someone starts crying. And just the thought of her crying angered him. And the thought of making her cry? Well, that was just too much.

He recovered quickly.

"You're not going with the team?"

"No," She replied simply,her voice regaining it's natural confidence. _Good. That's better._ "Not if you're not. I don't know anyone else on the team well enough to feel comfortable around them."

That threw him.

"But how do you expect to get closer to them if you don't interact?"

"I don't. I never expected to get close to any of you. It was pure coincidence that we live in the same building. If we hadn't, I doubt we would have gone out together so fast, if at all."

Okay, he understood that. Hell, he had to agree.

"But still..." he finally tried.

"No 'but's. I barely have fun going out with my best friends, why would I enjoy going out with a bunch of people I hardly know?"

"Because they make it fun." He attempted. It was the truth. Sort of. Sometimes they make it fun, and sometimes it's hell. Morgan would sometimes hang out with him, and sometimes ditch him. Emily would occasionally talk Star Trek with him, and occasionally go grind some random guy on the dance floor. Garcia was fine, but eventually she'd leave him to go home to Kevin. Hotch and Rossi really weren't any fun. Before, the only time he would go out with them is if JJ went with. She'd usually stay with him if everyone else ditched him. That's why he liked her so much. She's always there for him-

"Then why don't you go?"

Briana's question interrupted his thoughts, and brought on that awful guilty feeling again.

He didn't really have a response. Not one that would make her want to go out with them.

"Exactly." She said triumphantly, going back to her files.

_Damnit. _He had to think of something. He wanted her to get closer to the team, but he just couldn't come up with a way to convince her to-  
Wait one second.

He had an idea.

"Fine."

"Fine?" She asked?

"I'll go if you go."

Rage flashed through her eyes and he had to repress a laugh._  
_

"Fine." she said steadily.

"Fine." He smiled.

"Fine." She repeated, a little louder.

Spencer chuckled and started to leave her office. "Fine."

"Fine!"

He laughed when the door shut behind him.

**I was actually s'pose to have this done about a week ago, but I'm lazy. IDK when the next chappy of the other story will be up, but hopefully I wont have to be the one to type it.**

**So, just a reminder. I am Nick, filling in for Chels, who is typing for Meg/Loui/redblackroses23 while she is hospitalized and undergoing therapy.**

**Meg is very grateful for evry1's kind words and well-wishes and she apologizes for the inconvenience. I personally think that's BS, cuz if anyone here is so self-centered that you'd rather have an innocent person suffer in their personal hell just so you can read some story, then you can choke on my dick and die, cuz the world dont need ya.**

**But for those of you actually concerned about her, thank you and she is doin ok right now. She's being a good girl and bein honest with the psychiatrist and doctors and everything and she hopes to be up and runnin soon.  
**


	13. Chapter 12

**_Freeeeedoooooom!_**

**_This extra-long chapter is my gift to all of you! And, because I'm not yet allowed to go back to school and don't want to leave ya'll hanging too long, I'll probably update again by the end of the day! _**

**_And I know JJ is OOC. She's going to be. I mean, like, majorly OOC in this story. It'll be nuts, but for the entire story to work, I need a hussy and I'm tired of everyone abusing poor Lila!_**

**_Oh, and in case you couldn't tell- it's the real author. You know- Megan/Louise/redblackroses23. Yup :) I finally got out of the hospital! Noe I just have to go to therapy...icky_**

**_Any, this takes place Friday night.  
_**

Briana reached around her misty shower curtain, yanked a soft white towel off of the towel rack and wrapped it around her dripping body. Stepping out of the tub and onto one of the bathroom rugs, she walked over the vanity sink and wiped down the foggy mirror with her hand. Her head jerked back in shock a bit with she saw her raccoon eyes, the result of not cleaning off her mascara before hoping in for a quick rinse. She reached over to her hand soap and squirted a pea-sized amount onto the tip of her pointer-finger. Rubbing the soap under her eyes, the redhead planned out her outfit for the night.

It was supposed to be sixty-five degrees tonight in response to a minor heat wave, so as long as she wore some kind of long-sleeve shirt or sweater, she wouldn't need a jacket.

_Good, _she thought while cleaning the soap off, _I hate taking extra clothes. I always loose something._

Unwrapping the towel from her breasts, she bent over and viciously attacked her long, fiery locks. After which, she walked out of the bathroom and straight into her bedroom to select her wardroom for her first night out in…well, let's just say a while.

* * *

Spencer stared helplessly into his pathetic closet. Sure, it was much further advanced than it was five years ago, but still.

_I could just_, He started to think, before stopping himself. _No! Never, never do that! It's suicide. I can do this. I have three PhDs, a genius I.Q. and….no sense of fashion._

Taking one last look at the emptiness, he gave in a pulled out his phone.

Three rings later and-

"Penelope Garcia-mistress of all superiorness- at your service."

He gulped. "Uh, hey Garcia, can you, uh, help me with something."

"Sure thing, sweet cheeks, whatdaya need?"

"Well, um…."

"Yeeeees?"

"…."

"Reid?"

He sighed. "Idon'tknowwhattowear."

"Come again?"

"I. Don't know. What to wear."

One high pitched squeal later, and he was severely regretting his decision.

* * *

Spencer gingerly stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby of his apartment building. He and Briana had made arrangements to meet up so he could take her to the bar- seeing as she was still new to the area.

Noticing that the woman still had yet to emerge from her apartment, he walked over to a small seating area that consisted of four chairs lined up against the wall. Sitting down, he started to think of yesterday.

For some reason, he just could not understand his guilt. It was still with him, the guilt. Every time he thought of JJ- whop, there it is. Why was this happening? JJ was his friend, and nothing more. Yeah, okay, he'll admit that some years ago, he had a crush on her, maybe even something more. But he was over that. She got a boyfriend and she moved on and so had he. Hadn't he?

It's not like he didn't have feelings for Briana. Strong feelings. Frighteningly strong. So, why did JJ keep popping up in his mind every time he thought of Briana? Why was what that every time he imagined running his fingers through a beautiful, soft, crimson mane, it turned blonde, if only for a second? Why, when he looked into a tie-dye of light gray and sky blue eyes, did they flash a deep, sea colored sapphire?

_God, I hate this. _He thought as he ran his hands over his face. He wanted to love Briana. He wanted to gaze into her eyes, swirling with just about every cool color on the palette. He wanted to rest his face on her cherry locks and spend hours trying to decipher the scents of her multiple hair products. He wanted to these things and so many more. And he wanted to do them all without feeling an uncalled for guilt.

"Hey." A soft voice called from across the lobby. Spencer looked up and saw Briana standing by the stairwell door. His breath hitched as he drank all of her in. She wore a form-fitting, black top with a V-neck that stopped just at the beginning of her cleavage. The sleeves were 3/4 the way down her arm and she had a couple of black hair ties around each wrist. The bottom hem of the sweater-shirt lead into a pair of dark-wash, boot-cut jeans. A small clicking echoed through the room when the heels of her black cowboy/rocker booties moved across the tile floor and closer to the stunned doctor.

"H-hey." He stuttered in response. She giggled lightly and wrapped him a quick, tight hug topped with a peek on the cheek.

"Ready to go?" Sh asked with a smile.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, let's go." He finally finished, mirroring her smile and holding out his arm. She laced her own through his and took stride next to him as the walked out the doors and into the Friday night.

* * *

Briana slowly moved closer to Reid, trying to make sure he didn't notice. That would be a little too embarrassing for her. But for God's sake, this man smelt so good! And frankly, she was quite shocked when she noticed his cho0ice of clothing for the night.

He had worn a pair of jeans and a lavender, button-down shirt with black and gray sweater-vest. He looked pretty damn sexy. Well, he always did, but tonight was different.

She gazed up at his short brown hair. It looked so soft and smooth. She felt the urge to run her fingers through it. That was one of her things. Any guy she was with HAD to have nice hair. There was just...no question. It was just...a rule. They need good hair. They simply need it.

These thoughts in mind, she reached her free hand over and weaved her pale fingers through the short, chocolate locks. In surprise, he jerked away slightly and gave her a 'what-the-hell' look before smiling. With a renewed confidence, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, completely trusting him to keep her safe.

* * *

"Hey guys!" Emily shouted from a block away.

Briana opened her eyes and noticed that they were in front of some place called _Eddy's. _Realizing that this must be the bar every one was talking about, she looked up at Spencer and gave him a light kiss on his slightly- stubbly jaw. He smiled at her and leaned in for another kiss, this time longer.

"Okay, that's enough. My God, do you guys need no air?" Prentiss laughed when she caught up.

They pulled away- each with their own smile- and shook their heads.

"So you guys are vampires and never told me." She jokingly accused while opening the door to the bar, "And I thought we were friends."

When she walked through, Spencer leaned into Briana and whispered, "Vampires?"

"Nothing." She laughed back.

The sweet, confused look on his face reminded her just how much she enjoyed having him around. He was sweet and caring and cute- mentally, socially, and physically. He was a perfect her. She had known other guys- dated other guys- who were fun, yes, but at the end of the day, it wasn't enough. But Spencer, he was different. She barely knew him, but she trusted him. He wouldn't hurt her. He wouldn't abandon her. He wouldn't cheat on her. He would be as loyal to her as she to-

"JJ?"

* * *

It had been three hours.

Three hours since he last said a word to her.

Three hours since they got to the bar.

Three hours since Spencer sat down at the bar next to some blonde-hair, blue-eye chick named 'JJ'.

Three hours since he broke his promise to not abandon her. To not make her feel like a third wheel.

Three hours.

Three hours he had been talking with this woman and acting as thought she herself didn't exsisit.

Even now, he sat right next to her, JJ on the other side. His back was to her, JJ getting all of his attention.

"What's a Klingon?"

By God, are you serious? Really?

But Spencer didn't seem to care. He just went on talking.

Now, try to understand. Briana had tried multiple times in the first hour to get in on the conversation. She had no problem with him having female friends. But this...this was more than friendship on his part. And there was something on her part. But it wasn't like Spencer. No, it was more sinful. Not nearly as sweet. No, her intentions were much more cynical. And Briana did **not **like it.

She was snapped out of her jealous and worried musings when something spilled down her shirt, soaking her to the bone.

"Oh, sorry." She heard Spencer say in a rush before going back to JJ. He hadn't even passed her a glance.

_That's it._ She thought angrily, her over-emotional tears forming already. She hoped out of her bar-stool and stormed out of the bar- not bothering to pay for her drink. They made her come out. She told them she didn't want to. She told them time and time again that she does not like going out, and they still made her. So you know what, they can pay for her drink.

_I wonder if anyone noticed I left. _She thought to herself as her tears almost over flowed and her throat started to swell. She then scoffed. Like they gave a flying fuck about her. They only cared about JJ. _Oh, JJ, come dance with me. Oh, JJ, help me find a guy. Oh, JJ, let me completely ignore my girlfriend for three straight hours so I can talk to you even though both of us have access to phones and we can talk whenever we want!_

She wrapped her arms around herself as a single sob escaped from her lips. She knew it was ridiculous to act like this, but she couldn't help it.

"Oh, now what's a pretty thing like you doing, walking out here all by yourself?"

She froze. Well, this can't be good.

"Walking out here all by myself, obviously." She replied bitterly.

"Oooooh, we got a feisty one." The creeper laughed as he continued to walk behind her- far too close for her comfort.

Before she could think of a response, a sharp wind barreled down the street and made her regret her decision to leave her jacket at home.

"You cold, baby? Well, we could go back to my place and...warm up a bit." He said in an over-suggestive manner.

"We could do that," She said as she kept walking, wishing that he would get tired of having to keep up with her pace and leave her alone, "Or...you go suck your on dick and hopefully choke on it. Though I doubt it's big enough to actually fill your airway."

"Or," He started, grabbing her arm and tossing her into the ally right next to them, twisted her ankle, "You can find out just how big it is yourself."

He started to unzip his pants.

_Well, shit._

_

* * *

_An ear-splitting scream ripped through the bar and destroyed the care-free atmosphere. The team went on high alert and Morgan was already going to grab his jacket.

Just to make sure, Spencer turned around to check on Briana.

His heart stopped.


	14. Chapter 13

They sprinted out of the bar and towards the location of the scream. They all knew who it was. Reid had made that clear.

*_"Briana." He whispered to himself in disbelief. _

"_Who?" The blonde beside him had asked. He looked to her and felt the guilt again, only so much worse._

"_Reid." Morgan called from across the bar. "Where's Parker?"_

_Sudden recognition flashed through him, and the race began*_

"Leave me the hell alone!" They heard her shriek from a block away. Both Morgan and Reid reached a speed Jesse Owens would find shocking, and they rounded into the ally just in time.

* * *

She was shoved against a dirty brick wall, pain clearly etched in her face. His Briana. **His** Briana was being held against her will, was being hurt- physically and mentally- and was about to be sexually assaulted. **His **Briana.

Pure, animalistic instinct overpowering him, Spencer yanked the would-be rapist by the back of his hair and tossed like trash to the other side of the ally. Before he could go after the sick son of a bitch, Morgan already had the man held up in the cooling air by the collar and his stained and wrinkled t-shirt.

About to go tell Morgan to back off and let him have his way with the "man", Spencer stopped abruptly when he heard a gasp of pain behind.

He whipped around and looked down at his girlfriend, who was sitting on the ground and desperately attempting to remove her ankle-boot. Drowning in a pool of concern, Spencer knelt down beside her and brushed messy blood-red hair behind her ear.

Ignoring his presence, she tried again to remove her boot, resulting once more in a small yelp of pain.

"Briana," He pleaded, his only focus in the world on the whimpering woman in front of him, "Sweety, what happened? Did he hurt you? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

Continuing to ignore him, she looked up at Hotch and Rossi- Emily and JJ having gone back to the bar to pay the tap and call the police- and asked a rather...odd question.

"Either one of you got a knife?"

Even odder? Rossi tossed her a pocket a knife.

"Thanks." She mumbled, flipping the small blade opening and sticking the tip of it in her boot. Spencer watched in shock as she cut off her boot- drawing some blood as she- and revealed a swelling, purple and black ankle.

"Oh, God," Spencer heard himself utter in shock, "Bri, you have to get that checked out."

"You need to keep your damned promises." She snapped.

Her biting comment and tone made him look away from her ankle and to her revealed face.

The sight broke his heart.

There was a large scrap on the side of face, just centimeters away from one of her eyes. Which, by the way, were two seconds from running over with salty tears.

It didn't occur to Spencer that he was the reasons for the tears.

* * *

"Just leave me alone." She snapped at the confused and concerned face before her, jerking away from his touch and using the wall and her hands to slowly walk herself up into a standing position.

"Briana-" He tried to start.

"Don't even." She growled at him through clenched teeth. He probably thought it was just because she was in pain, and not because she was pissed. Argo, he was probably wrong.

When she finally stood, natural instinct took over and she tried to balance on both of her feet. Big mistake. Even she was scared of the sound of agony, shock and just plain pain that erupted from her vocal cords.

"Ahhhh!" She screeched as she quickly shifted all of her weight onto her none-messed-up foot.

"Bri-" Spencer called, reaching to help her. Again, she jerked away.

"Stop it!" She yelled at him, finally feeling the cool wetness on her cheeks that let her know that she was, in fact, crying. "I don't need your damned help or fucking pity!

"I don't need your drama, I don't need your empty promises and I don't need you!"

By the time she finished, Spencer himself was on the verge of tears. It almost made her feel bad. Almost.

Without saying another word, she hobbled out of the ally.

"You're not walking home, are you?" She heard Rossi call when they finally realized she wasn't going to stop.

"Plannin' on it." She called back, the bitterness still in her voice.

And with that, she staggered the five and a half blocks to her building, her silent tears flowing freely.

* * *

_So, here we are. Friends turned enemies. Partners turned competitors. Teammates turned rivals. _Briana thought as she glared at the stairwell door. She knew it wouldn't be smart to try to walk up three flights of stairs, but she really, really, really didn't want to even attempt the elevator.

The sound of a car pulling to a stop in the parking lot brought her to turn and look out the front, glass door. Spencer was getting out of a taxi.

_Shit!_

He was paying the driver, so he hasn't seen her yet. Good, she still had time to avoid him.

Looking back at the stairwell door with her adrenaline pumping, she flung the door open and tried(looking ridiculous doing so) to run up the first flight, making sure he didn't see her.

She made it to the first landing when she collapsed in pain.

"Shit." She gasped as she scooted to the wall and latched onto the rail. Taking a few deep breaths, she pulled herself up and started up the stairs again, at a much slower pace this time around.

* * *

She hobbled to her refrigerator and opened the freezer, grabbing an ice pack. She yanked on the roll of paper towels sitting next to the fridge and wrapped a couple of the still-connected towels around the pack.

Hopping across her living room and down the hall, she reached the hall closet just in time to hold onto the knob and stop herself from falling flat on her face. Regaining her one-foot balance, she opened the door and searched for a roll of gauze. When she found it, she grabbed a box of clasps and hoped back into the living room and fell on her couch.

Just as she got the ice pack in place around her ankle, there was a knock on her door.

"One second!" She shouted as she quickly tried to wrap the gauze around the pack and her ankle.

The person knocked again.

"One! Second!" She yelled again. Just as she tied the remaining gauze in a knot, the person knocked again.

"Goddamnit!" She bellowed while stumbling to the door and opened it, "I said one sec-"

"And it's been 35 1/2." Spencer Reid replied.

**_HAHAHAHAHAHA! Another cliff-hanger! Dude, I've been loving these things. Not just for these stories, but I'm taking like, three communication classes and my therapist wants me to write stories to express my feelings (like I havn't been doing that already :p) and I keep doing cliff-hangers. In fact, Nick, the guy that wants people to choke on his penis, is in a writing class and he brings me his old assignments to do and I wrote this alternate ending that's totally depressing and stuff lol_**

_**Annnnnnnnnnnnnnyway**_, **_is the site acting up for anyone else? I'm not getting any kind emails or anything and it's really bugging me. And thank you for all of the well wishes!_**


	15. Chapter 15

"How's your ankle?"

Briana looked up from her coffee mug- filled with hot chocolate- at the lanky young man standing across the kitchen.

He had requested to come in and she refused. Then he looked at her ankle, swollen and messily wrapped in brown gauze and decided that her blatant disdain for him at the current moment was unimportant. In one swift move, he lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the couch. She tried to protest and demand that he leave her place of residence, but any and all of her arguments fell on deaf ears.

Gently, he guided the inflamed joint to the coffee table and started re-tending to the wound. He was very thorough, she noted, and meticulous. And as she currently looked across the the kitchen bar where she sat, she could practically see the guilt and disgrace radiating around him like a lurid haze of lung throttling smog.

Briana didn't know if the dramatic amount of remorse rose from him breaking his promise or any of the other things that happened tonight and frankly, she didn't care.

She can handle being lied to. Hell, she's lied to people's face without so much a flutter or fluster. But a broken promise- especially in light of a _particular _event some months prior- is, in her mind, a broken relationship.

* * *

_40 minutes earlier  
_

Spencer sat in the back of some random cab in deep, demeaning thought.

He abandoned her. He ignored her. And his failures drove her right into the clawing and clenching hands of danger.

The disappointment, distress and rage in her eyes when she had finally looked at him back in the ally, it was...heart shattering. And to make matters worse, she was hurt. Not just emotionally, but physically.

He had indirectly physically injured her. And to think...if they had gotten to her just a few minutes later she would've been...

but she wasn't. So there was a plus. However, add together the desertion, the 'look', the way she ran- check that- _limped_ away from them...he was drowning. And no one was there to help him. He had to fix this himself.

The cab came to a stop and Spencer paid the man before walking into the apartment building. He could've sworn that he saw something deep-red and about five feet off of the ground dash into the stairwell, so he walked to the door to see if Briana was really the stubborn as to try and trudge up three flights of stairs with a twisted ankle.

Quietly opening the door, he peered around inside the well and found...nothing.

Assuming that what ever he saw was just his mind playing tricks on him, Spencer let the door closed and went to the elevator- completely unaware of the young woman laying on the second floor stair balcony fighting back tears of pain and humiliation.

* * *

"Listen, I'm not going to set myself up for betrayal and paranoia," Briana declared suddenly, "And after what happened with the blondie at the bar..."

Spencer peered from his coffee mug- this one actually holding coffee- at the girl who had just spoken. She was beaten and battered. Her hair looked like it was bathed in dirt, dried blood covered a scrap that ran the length of the left side of her face and her entire top lip was starting to swell. And in total opposition to the terrifying events of the night, her eyes were still hard and her gaze was ever-so steady. Reasonable deduction told him what was about to happen.

He wasn't well-versed in relationships. He didn't have a PhD in 'Girlfriends' and of his 187 IQ points, about three of them were for basic social understandings.

Yet still, he knew what was coming.

* * *

_Damnit, _she thought as she felt an all too familiar pressure in her eyes and the back of her throat. _No, no, I can** not** cry._

Swallowing her sorrows the best she could, Briana spoke again.

"I need to know this now, Spencer. Are you safe?"

* * *

She tried to hide it, but her personal pain was just far too immense to even joke at choking it back. He could see it so plainly, all of the hurt from (he was assuming) whatever happened back at her old job. All of the hurt that he made her remember.

Was he safe? It was obvious that her pain steamed from some kind of abandonment or betrayal. And considering his own current fears about 'the blondie', he knew the answer to her question.

"No."

Briana sighed. "Well alright, then. Thank you for being honest."

Then there was silence. Spencer attempted to take advantage of it.

"Brea, I really like you." He tried to explain. He tried to tell her how sorry he was. He tired, but the words just wouldn't come out. Stubborn little shits.

Briana sighed once more, taking a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking.

"I know about the blondie, okay? I was briefed by like...five different people on the situation before I was even allowed to take the job. I know that I'm replacing her professionally and I'm fine with that. I couldn't care less about being someone's professional replacement. But I will not, _will not, _be a warm body, Spencer Reid." She asserted. She attempted to control the flood gates, but just a few feelings of repressed resentment leaked through the cracks. She knew it sounded harsh, and she regretted it. But there was nothing she could do about it now.

The look on his face, though. Dear God, he looked like a kicked puppy. With those big, brown eyes and his little pout- did he even know he was doing it?

"You're so much more than a warm body, Briana. And I know- I _know_ that you deserve better, sop much better than I could ever be. But I want to try, I _will _try to be better. Just, right now, I..."

She waited for him to continue. She wanted to see where he was going with this. Was he going to try and persuade her into a relationship with him? Ha! Fat Chance, buddy.

Finally, he started speaking again.

"I can't be better, right now, Briana. I think of you, dream of you and against my conscious will, I see flashes of her. And when I daydream about you, I start to wander off and think about all of these 'what if's with me and JJ. And I know it'll never happen and I truly don't even _want _it to happen. I don't know why I have dreams about her, why I think about her, but I want it to stop. I want it to stop but I have no idea how to make it."

By now, he had slid down to her kitchen floor, completely wiped out. She felt bad for him, she did. She knew what it was like. She had suffered through it herself after the whole Ryan incident.

* * *

"Here's the plan."

He looked up from his two palms and saw the bar empty, only to notice a deep colored flame in his peripheral vision.

Briana was sitting next to him, her own legs tucked into her chest like his. She wasn't looking at him, but at the oven door in front of them. He looked, too, and almost laughed out loud at the reflection. What a bunch of miserable losers they look like.

His eyes appeared completely embedded into his skull, his face look unnaturally long and thin and his hair was a mess form running his hands through it. That was one of the reasons he cut it, actually. He just got so annoyed one day when he caught a knot that he took hold of a knife and just _sliiiiiiiiiiice. _Glancing at Briana's reflection, he noticed that her hair knots would be quite the problem. He winced just thinking about the next time she would try to brush the rat's nest. Her makeup was smeared off and her eye was already starting to swell shut just slightly. And despite the temporary dis-figuration, he could easily see just how tired she was.

"You are going to go about your business and live life like we never tried to start dating. When the images and fantasies about Blondie are done, then we can try again.

Spencer looked at her in total disbelief. Why was she being so understanding about this? To say that her's wasn't the reaction he was expecting would be a complete belittlement of his current shocked state.

"Bri-Briana, I don't understand."

"What?"

"Why are you giving me another chance?" He inquired as his brows naturally knitted together.

She sighed slightly and gave him a small smile.

"Because we can' control our subconscious, Spencer. And I'm not one to punish people for something that they can't control."

He smiled back at her a for a moment- just one, quick moment- it was only them. No 'Blondie', no bar, no pasts. Just the two of them.

Before a damned oven alarm ruined the moment.

Spencer's head shot to the appliance in shock and Briana giggled before trying to scoot her way up the cabinet door she was sitting in front of.

Spencer took note of this and quickly help her up and over to the alarm.

"Bed time." She told him as she turned it off. "I wake up pretty consistently, so to be able to function in daily society, I also have to go to bed at a semi-consistent time."

He nodded in understanding and released his light hold on her waist. It was only when she started hopping on her good foot did he re-establish his hold around her midriff.

She shot him a minute, embarrassed smile as they trudged towards her bedroom. Once there, she directed him towards her bed, where she had a pair of gray and pink stripped bikini panties and an old, gray t-shirt laying out. She grabbed the items and quickly but cautiously hobbled to the conjoined bathroom.

While she changed, Spencer walked back out to the kitchen and opened her freezer. Much to his relief, he found a generic brand, flexible ice pack on one of the shelves.

Finding the slipcover for the pack in a cabinet drawer next to the refrigerator, Spencer slide the pack into the gray, fleece pouch and stepped into the living room. The roll of gauze, box of clips and the scissors were still on the table. He snatched the supplies up and went back into the bedroom. He noticed that the bathroom was now open and as he peeked inside, he saw what he was dreading.

Briana was trying to brush her hair.

And frankly, the horrific crunching sound of the brush ripping through the knots made his stomach churn.

He waited until she was done with what had to be some kind of Chinese torture to her scalp and beckoned her to the bedroom. There, he led her to the edge of the queen sized mattress and commanded her to sit while he got the supplies ready.

After opening the box of clasps and starting the gauze roll, he gently guided her twisted ankle to his eye level and started undoing his previous wrappings.

Over the next few minutes he re-wrapped the ankle and guided her under covers of her bed. He watched her reach over to her electronic clock and turned on something that sounded like a cross between to ocean and and SUV going 80 mph on a gravel road.

"I'm going to call Hotch tomorrow morning and tell him I'm taking you to get x-rays." He told her as he stood in the bedroom doorway.

"Alright." She mumbled back, only about 1/4 conscious.

Spencer quietly laughed to himself and switched the light off, leaving the bedroom door slightly ajar before exiting the apartment entirely. He walked down the hallway and to the elevator, pressing button '5' and waiting to get his own self tucked into bed.

**_A/N: So I had this all typed last week. Guess what happened._**

**_I went to click 'Save' and BAM! It took me to the Login screen. I screamed, threw my laptop at the wall, cried for an hour and then screamed again. To say I was lightyears beyond pissed would do SHAME to my true emotions. People, it was like I was heading torwards _Psychotic Break _at comfortable pace and then someone just sent into fucking Wrap 9._**

**_Oh, and yesterday I started walking to Quad area of my campus before my first class (I like having about an hour or so before classes to just do whatever I want) and let me tell you something. Seventeen people told me "We got Osama!"_**

**_Yeah, sweeties, I know. Don't get me wrong, I'm enthralled and beyond proud but...really people? Because I didn't hear on seven different news stations while just trying to find the weather forecast, I didn't wake up to ten text messages and I see it all over the internet._**

**_I understand that they're exited and so am I but I gotta be honest, by the third person I was just thinking "NO FUCKIN' WAY, DUDE! YOU'RE SHITTIN' ME! I HAD .IDEA!"_**

**_...I'm not in a good mood._**

**_But on the plus side, I get an extension on two of my finals because of the whole 'mental breakdown' thing! So there ya go!_**

**_And a quick note: I really don't give a shit if you think we were wrong in killing Osama Bin Laden. He was a pure evil man who indirectly killed 3,000 people in a matter of hours. An eye for three thousand fucking eyes, bitches._**

**_And if you bring up how we didn't kill Sadam, I have a quick fact for you. Sadam surrendered. Osama fought. You fight, you better be prepared to suffer the consequences. You shoot at us, we shoot at you. If you so happen to get shot and die, well, you shouldn't have shot at us in the first place, idiot! If 'Paradise' does exists then you know what, good for you, Osama! If 'Hell' exists, then good for the rest of the fucking planet!_**

**_Okay, okay, I'm better. For now._**

**_Oh, and I know IQ points don't work the way in real life how they do in my comparison, but you get the point.  
_**


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N: Okay, I'm just gonna get this done with. My older brother's dead. I don't really know what happened, but I know that he was stabbed while walking his girlfriend back to her apartment building at like three in the morning. He was in the hospital for a while, but he finally passed on the 16**__**th**__** of May, 2011 in the early morning at the age of 20 years. His funeral was last Monday and I really haven't wanted to touch the computer or even my iPod because one of the things we had in common was our love of technology and how quickly we always adapted to the changes and how great we both were with anything electronic and even now I'm kinda hating this because he was the one who convinced my parents to get me the laptop I'm typing this on and I don't know. Like I said, I really don't want to do this, but both my therapist and psychiatrist think that it would help me move on, you know, get some normalcy back. I still can't touch my iPod, though. I know a lot of you won't understand how big of a deal that is, so let me give you some perspective. When I was thirteen, the school I was attending suggested I see a psychologist. After two sessions, she called my parents in and told them to never take away my iPod. They can take away my phone, my computer privileges, my tv, my friends, but never take away my iPod because it is the one thing that I would go to if I was in the middle of a suicide crisis. And that holds true to this day, my iPod is my crutch. I haven't even looked at the thing in thirteen days. I've decided that I'm going to start Cherry v. Lime in honor of my brother, because the character Hugh is based solely off of him.**_

Briana awoke the next morning to the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting through her slightly open bedroom door. And in the midst of her 'just-woke-up' confusion, she clambered out of bed and hobbled to the kitchen, expecting to see one of her parents and a box of doughnuts like she did every Saturday morning back home. She wiggled into one of her bar stools and slowly opened her drowsy eyes, starting her visual search for the glorious fried and glazed dough she loved so much. She found none. Sad.

After the blatant lack of what would have been the perfect breakfast, Brea decided that something wasn't right and forced herself into full consciousness. First thing she noticed as the coffee. There was no scent of vanilla or caramel like how her mom and dad drank it, it was just straight black. The second was the tall, thin man searching her cabinets. She almost laughed, but she was too tired to muster up anything other than a smile and a small question.

"Need something?"

Spencer nearly jumped out of his skin while he whipped around and stared at her in shock.

"Spence?" She asked as he continued to stare, "Are you broken?"

"What? Oh, uh no, no. Sorry." He smiled meekly, "Uh, I was wondering where your coffee mugs were, actually."

"Left of the microwave." She pointed towards the door.

"Thanks." He smiled as he moved to the cabinet and pulled out a mug. "Do you want some?" He asked, referring to the brew he was pouring himself.

She smiled at him, "No thanks, I never had a taste for coffee."

His brows knotted.

"Then why do you have it?"

"For situations like this."

"What?" He laughed, "For people who break into your apartment at seven in the morning?"

"I like my robbers to feel at home, thank you."

He chuckled and shook his head, placing the small pot back under the brewer.

"Can you tell me if I have any cereal, please?" Briana requested after he took a few sips of the dark brown liquid that he had just caked with sugar.

"Nope." He told her, "You're not supposed to eat before getting an X-ray." _**(I know its BS, just humor me)**_

_Getting a-_

"Ooooh yeah." She summered.

"Did you forget?" Spencer jokingly accused.

"Of course not."

"Mhmm."

"Damn Skippy." She shouted, jumping down from the bar seat and hopping into the kitchen. She braced the heels of her hands onto the counter top behind her and hoisted herself up onto the slab of granite.

"So," She started, a small grunt accompanying it when her butt made an abrupt contact with the counter, "How exactly did you get into my apartment? Or did you leave the door unlocked last night so anyone could get in?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets," He said simply, "And I would never put you in that kind of danger."

"Good to know," She laughed, "So when is the appointment?"

"11:30am"

She looked at the oven clock. 7:27 am.

"Why are you here so early?"  
"Have you ever been to the hospital?"

"No."

Spencer laughed and set his mug on the counter next to him, walking over and helping Briana off of the counter.

"That explains it." He chuckled as he grabbed hold of her waist, lifting as she semi-jumped. Her hands loosely wrapped around his neck while he gently lowered her to the ground. It felt good to touch her. Too good considering he probably won't be able to do it again for a long time. "Go get ready, we have to go soon."

"Why?" She asked timidly.

"You'll see."

* * *

"Spencer."

"Hm?"

"It's 10:25am."

"And?"

"We got here at 8am."

"And?"

"I'm not done with the paper work yet."

"Yup."

"Why!"

"Because it's a hospital." He smiled.

Briana sighed and fell back into her chair; lazily filing out what she hoped was her final form. Tapping her fingers against the cold, metal clipboard, Briana realized that Spencer was not joking, this shit takes forever.

"Ms. Parker?"

Briana looked up at the pink-scrubbed nurse who wore a warm smile.

"Dr. Shepard is ready to see you."

"Thank you." She smiled as she stood from her seat, tugging on Spencer's shirt as a signal for him to follow. He obliged without question and the two followed Pinky down the hall and into a very hospital-y room.

"He'll be with you shortly."

"Thank you." Both Spencer and Briana replied.

The door closed with a click and Briana crawled onto the paper-covered bed while Spencer took refuge in one of the plastic chairs against the wall. They were silent for a few minutes; the crinkling of the paper under Briana's fidgeting the only sound in the room. Neither knew what to say. Briana was worrying for reasons that Spencer didn't know and didn't know how to handle and Briana didn't know if he was still upset about last night.

Finally, one of them spoke.

"Why did you want me to come with you?"

Briana glance at the man slouching in a plastic blue chair and studied his face. Did she really want to tell him? Could she even explain it right?

"I don't like being alone with doctors." She started self-consciously, thoroughly examining the beige walls and jar of tongue depressors in an attempt to avoid eye contact.

"Any reason why?" He urged softly. It was a curious thing to be afraid of, that's for sure.

"I don't really know." She admitted, now entirely visually engaged with her one pink and black Asics tennis shoe, "I've just always hated it. There's too much pressure, I guess. It's like, they ask you a question, but it's a really vague question and I don't know how to answer it and I'm just like 'For God's sake, man, just tell me what you want to freaking hear!' And then of course they know you're wound up, so they try to covertly calm you down, which just gets me more wound up and…I don't know. I guess I just like having the moral support, you know?"

_Not a clue._ "Yeah, I know what you mean." He smiled, even though it was a total lie. He could only guess that her fear of doctors was like his fear of public speaking, of being judged. Only with the doctor, it was more personal, more one-on-one, and face-to-face. So yes, actually, he did kind of understand what she was talking about.

"Miss Parker?"

The two simultaneously looked at the door and saw a young man (probably 30-35) with red hair and a light complexion leaning in the archway.

"That's me." Briana replied innocently with slight quiver in her voice and a shaky smile. She was nervous, that much was clear. And after their conversation ten seconds ago, Spencer knew why. But it appeared the doctor had other ideas.

"I'm Dr. Shepard." He smiled coyly, his green eyes gleaming as he reached out to shake her hand. Briana took it gently and the way the doctor lingered did not go unnoticed by Spencer.

He hated this guy already.

**_A/N: I know the actual chapter it's self is a few words short of my normal +1200, but I've been typing five different stories for three different groups of people all day and I'm about to f^^king snap and throw this f^^king computer at the f^^king wall it I see one more f^^king squiggly line! I'm not in a good mood. I should have the first chapter of Cherry v. Lime up tonight, if not than by tomorrow afternoon (my time, of course). Sorry for the long wait, I'll try to update sooner._**


	17. Chapter 17

Spencer sat in the depressingly beige room for what seemed like hours as Dr. Shepard _personally _escorted Briana through all the X-rays and blood tests.

Jerk.

* * *

"So," Dr. Shepard started while he pushed Briana's wheelchair down another hallway, "How exactly did you twist your ankle?"

"I was…jumped, I guess." She answered, not exactly sure on how to describe what happened the previous night.

"Where was your boyfriend?" The doctor asked, a particular disdain in his voice. Creep. Normally, she would inform the man that Spence was not, in fact, her boyfriend. However, Shepard was weirding her out and she didn't want to give him any reason to think she wanted anything to with him. So she decided to let it be.

"We got into a minor tiff," She spat, "I walked off. When I screamed, he came running. The men are in prison and my _boyfriend_ is waiting for me back in the room."

The doctor said nothing more as he walked them both into an elevator.

Briana's grip on the chair tightened.

* * *

Spencer was tinkering with the sliver lid of the cotton ball jar when the phone in his pants pocket vibrated. In a fit of shock, he dropped the lid back onto the jar clumsily. This, in turn, knocked the jar off of balance and the counter.

"Oh, just classic." Spencer angrily hissed as he lowered himself to the floor and scooped up the puffy white orbs.

A short way down the hall, the elevator rang and the doors opened. The sounds of a rather loud Dr. Shepard trying to "woo" Briana Parker echoed into the room.

Spencer cursed swiftly as he hurriedly swept the cotton balls back into the jar and stumbled to replace it back upon the counter.

Just as he fell back into his seat, the mechanical clicking of a turning door knob was heard.

"-just lovely," Briana was saying as she was wheeled in, "but Spencer and I have plans that weekend."

"Oh, really?" The doctor responded in annoyed disbelief, "Well, that's just too bad."

"Yes it is, good doctor," Spencer addressed, standing from his seat and walking over to the odd couple, "Now, considering the obviously painful small talk you've decided to succumb Miss Parker to, I'd assume that she is in no mortal danger here?"

Dr. Shepard sent a glare the young man's way and answered with a snide 'no'.

Spencer smirked. "Then I suggest you scribble out your little prescriptions and let us on our way."

Briana smiled as the doctor walked away from her chair and to the little prescription pad on the end of the counter.

'Thank you.' She mouthed towards her company. He smiled and nodded.

Dr. Shepard returned to Briana, stepping in her and Spencer (on purpose, it seemed) and kneeling down to her seated level. He had three slips of paper in his hand.

"This one," He said, picking a single piece of paper from the herd, "Is for painkillers. Take two an hour as needed. This one is for anti-inflammatory. Take three a day with food. And the last one is for anti-bacterial cream. You are to apply liberally to all open wounds-even the smallest scraps- every time you re-dress them- which should be once every few hours. 'Kay?"

"Gotchya." She confirmed with a smile and curt nod.

"Oh, and don't do that." He told her, in reference to her nod, "You may not have a concussion, but your head was definitely wounded. Any kind of sudden movements of the head could take you down a bad road. Also, try to avoid any kind of heavy-bass. Music, movie theaters, construction sites, anything. Got it?"

She looked him dead in the eye and nodded, "I'll see what I can do…"

Dr. Shepard stayed crouched down, a smile on his face as he remained too close to Bri for too long- at least in Spencer's mind.

"If that's all, Doctor," he started, walking up to the "professional" and lightly tugging him upward, "We really need to be going."

"Alright, but-"

"Uh-huh," Spencer mumbled as he helped Briana out of the wheel chair. She wrapped an arm around his neck, helping to support her in light of the twisted ankle.

The two hobbled to the door, ignoring the ramblings of the doctor, and opened the door.

"Oh! Hello." Nurse Pinky said from outside the door, holding up a pair of crutches wrapped in cellophane. "For you, dear." She said with a smile, handing the pack to Briana.

"Oh, thank you," Briana replied with a smile, grabbing the crutches her free hand. "Where do I pay for these?"

Pinky smiled. "Insurance already did."

"So, we're free to leave?" Spencer asked.

"Got your prescriptions?"

"Yup," Bri confirmed, waving the hand around Spencer's neck that held three sheets of paper.

Pinky's smile grew. "Then have a lovely day, you two."

"You too." Spencer smiled as he led Briana down the hallway.

* * *

"So, I take this one with food, and this one forty minutes after food." Briana specified to herself, setting her designated prescription bottles aside, "then I put the cream during re-dressing, which I should do at least an hour before going into water of any kind and then immediately after."

Spencer just nodded through her ramblings, fixing lunch for the both of them.

He turned around and placed a plate in front of her- turkey sandwich, potato chips and a glass of water. She frowned at the water.

"No caffeine for the first three days, remember?" Spencer scolded lightly with a smile. Pouting, Briana opened the bottle of anti-inflammatories a popped one into her mouth, chasing it with boring ol' H2O.

"This is why I don't go to the doctor," She told him after swallowing her drink, "It's always 'No'. No caffeine, no dairy products, no music, no movies. And if it is 'yes', it's usually bad. Like, 'Yes, you have cancer'. Either way, the doctor is screwing you over! We lived without constant medical intervention before, didn't we?" she ranted, almost comically in Spencer's eyes.

"True," he replied with a smile, "But rarely. Infant deaths were insanely high and if you lived past 40 you were considered a witch and burned at the stake for making a deal with the Devil."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Semantics," she denounced, waving off his argument with a flick of her wrist, "Babies die anyway today. Hell, I'm not risking having one. I'm not going to wake up one day and find me three month dead for no reason other than SIDS. And frankly, I don't want to live to 50. No way in hell am I getting a colonoscopy." She announced with a stubborn arm cross and light head shake (doctor's orders and all).

Spencer laughed, "Well, if we didn't have doctors, no one would need a colonoscopy, now would they?"

Briana's face lit up and she smacked the counter top. "You get me!" She shouted through partially closed lips- trying to keep her chewed up lunch inside her mouth.

Spencer laughed again as his phone rang. It was a text from Hotch. They needed him in.

He frowned as he responded in the affirmative and slipped his phone back in his front pocket.

"I don't think anyone understands the concept of 'day off'," He complained, grabbing his keys and wallet from the counter top.

Briana nodded slightly in understanding, her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk's while she chewed. She looked like a little five year old, completely innocent and untouched by the horrors of adult life. It was adorable.

Spencer smiled, kissed her stuffed cheek, realized how much he was going to regret that later, and promptly walked out of the apartment. He heard Briana laughing as he closed the door.

* * *

**_A/N: So...it's been _**_**awhile. (about 9 months for future readers' reference)**_  
_**And Harrypotter-PercyJackson, I am sorry to say, but no. It's not from an episode.**_

**_The title of the story, in fact, is like Jeopardy. It's totally random trivia that you have no chance of knowing unless you actually know it. I'll tell where the title is from in the next chapter._**


End file.
